Aurea Mors: Alter Zwei
by Patriot-112
Summary: Second Story in my Aurea Mors Alter Series. No bigger summary I'm afraid.
1. Prologue: Party Crasher

_**A/N : And here it is! The start of Aurea Mors: Alter Zwei, the second to my Alter series of Aurea Mors. I hope you'll all enjoy this fic, and give me some good positive feedback. Remember, these Alter stories are just that, alternate scenarios.**_

 _ **However, Trolling and flaming are not permitted, and that goes double for 'anonymous' reviewers, whose Troll Flaming reviews I will just erase.**_

 _ **Now then, on with the reading.**_

* * *

 _ **Prologue: Party Crashing**_

* * *

 _ **October**_

 _ **Kingdom of Vale**_

 _ **Vytal Festival**_

 _ **Amity Coliseum**_

* * *

"There ain't gonna be a next time, Blondie...,"

A blonde haired, lilac eyed 17 year old woman blinked in confusion, before she turned around, and saw a boy the same age as her, with gunmetal grey hair, and black eyes, leaping toward her in a jump kick.

However, unknown to her, he was actually calmly walking towards her, all the while smirking internally at how easy this party bitch was to fool, not to mention all the unaware, and most definitely stupid, people watching.

The young girl, took a combat stance as the bracelets on her wrists turned into golden gauntlets, which covered her hands and forearms. As she prepared to fight the apparent sore loser.

But then, something happened that she, the young man, and the whole crowd in the stadium had not expected.

He stopped about two feet away from her, before suddenly his legs jerked back and he landed on his stomach, before being pulled back by an unseen force.

The girl watched, confusion on her face, as the young man is pulled back toward the edge of the platform, before he is suspended in the air. She then takes notice of the black glow around his legs, as the boy flailed around in both confusion and anger.

"H-Hey! What the hell's going on!?" Shouted the currently suspended young man, one Mercury Black, the son of former assassin Marcus Black, as he tried to find a way to get himself loose.

"Bad day to be having metal legs, _Black_ ," a cold feminine spoke out, before being violently turned around. Then, to the surprise of everyone in the stadium, like a dissipating mirage, appeared a person, dressed in what looked to be a combination of a Western Style combat dress, with pieces of armor, including a breastplate, gauntlets, and cuisses pieces on the skirt of the dress, while holding what looked to be a longsword in one of her hands, while her free hand was outstretched and glowing black, and a golden round shield on her back, like a certain Invincible Girl's shield.

Another thing they noticed was the strange mask on her face which concealed her eyes and nose, and was colored a scarlet red with a golden trim, with the only thing visible being her mouth.

The other features on the person included her blonde hair with red highlights, which was drawn up into a bun at the back of her head, and her slight pale skin complexion.

Mercury, still upside down, could only glare at the woman who was holding him up, seeing she was messing up the whole plan they had for framing the blonde bimbo, not to mention what they have planned for the champion and robot girl.

"Who the hell are you!?" he shouted, as he felt the glare behind her mask increase as she looked at him.

And it was in that moment, she responded...and in a way that will send shockwaves throughout Remnant.

In a flash of steel, both of the metallic-haired teens legs were cut off, just below the knees.

Everyone in the stands now looked horrified at what just happened, while in her side of the arena, Yang's own eyes were wide and her mouth was agape in shock at what her fellow blonde just did, true what Black tried to do was a dick move, but still...

The sound of a loud thud was heard as Mercury slammed to the ground unceremoniously, while the severed legs floated in the air, the black glow still surrounding them...while, strangely, instead of leaking blood, they were leaking a oil like fluid.

The masked woman then turned the legs right side up, and the lower pant legs dropped down, revealing to the crowd that instead of flesh and bone legs, they were instead metal prosthetics. Something that nobody knew about the boy, including Yang.

She then casually threw the limbs away before kneeling down, and grabbed the now legless Mercury by the front of his shirt, and pulling him toward her so that their faces were an inch apart and he was looking straight at her masked face.

"Be lucky I didn't cut your head off, Black," she said lowly, so only Mercury could hear, while the said cyborg only flinched at the ice cold tone she was using, "Though you make a very tempting target to erase from this world, there's someone else who is at the top of my shit-list to kill...and that is your boss,"

Mercury's eyes widened, before the girl roughly shoved him away before he could say anything.

Just as the sound of VTOL engines were heard, as Atlesian Gunships entered the arena, hovering in place as the rear hatches opened, and the pride of the Atlas Army, about over a dozen AK-200 androids, as well as a dozen Atlas Troopers exited the gunships and immediately proceeded to surround the girl who stood back up on her feet, as they all aimed their rifles at her, as she returned her own weapon to her back.

She looked around the soldiers and robots surrounding before she sighed in annoyance.

"Really?" she asked, in a rather sarcastic tone, as she shook her head in disappointment "Don't you arrogant Atlesians ever learn?"

With that statement, both of her hands began glowing black again, and before the Atlesian security could act, quick as a Deathstalker's tailstrike, she snapped her arms up. The result was the Atlas troopers losing their guns and having them pointed at them, while the androids spread eagled and were lifted into the air, the same black glow surrounding them.

Everyone looked on with bated breath, fearing what the masked woman would do next.

Then, the woman squeezed her hands shut, causing the Atlesian Knights and rifles to be crushed into cubes, but not before the magazine clips of the said rifles were ejected to avoid them exploding, and accidentally killing someone.

She then threw the now useless garbage away, which a few of the troopers ducked to avoid getting hit by the flying debris, which some hit the barrier shield, thankfully preventing casualties among the audience.

She then looked around her as the Troopers got their bearings back in order as they instead drew their stun batons, causing her to sigh in irritation at them.

Knowing it was unavoidable, he slammed her right fist into the palm of her left hand, and proceeded to crack her knuckles, while twisting her neck.

"Okay, so who's first?"

One of the soldiers obliged and rushed forward to swing his stun weapon at the woman, only for her to catch him by the wrist and began to deliver a series of strong, ruthless, but non-lethal, jabs to his torso, legs, and arms, before finally kicking him away sending him flying back and crashing along the arena floor before he stopped, out cold, much to the surprise of his comrades, and the crowd.

The stunned soldiers then looked back at the girl as she crossed her arms in front of her, a golden brow arched slightly above her mask.

"Who's next?"

With that invitation, the Atlas soldiers all charged in, deciding to use numbers to their advantage...

...not that it will help them.

* * *

In the stands, everyone watched with dropped jaws as the mystery girl proceeded to give the Atlesian troopers a humiliating beating.

Among those were a certain two teams who one member from each team is part of the finals tournament: RWB and JNR.

"Whoa! What the heck is going on here!?" said Jaune Arc, the team leader of Team JNPR as he watched the spectacle happening on the arena floor.

"I'm not sure myself, Jaune!," said his fellow Team Leader, Ruby Rose as she looked at the beatdown the unknown blonde was giving the Atlas troops.

Apparently the poor guys can't get a break these days. Especially after the break-in at the CCTS tower, and the Breach incident.

"Well whatever is going on...," Spoke up Weiss Schnee, Ruby's partner, "...that girl is going to be in even bigger trouble if she doesn't stop!"

What the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company said was true, aside from the fact that she just assaulted Mercury, she also destroyed Atlas military property, and is now assaulting Atlas military personnel.

"I don't think she plans to stop, Weiss..." Blake Belladonna commented, before wincing at the sight of one poor Atlas Trooper getting his balls caved in, via punch from the said girl, which caused the men in the stands to take it more personally as their hands hovered protectively over their own privates. "...If that's any indication,"

The leader of Team RWBY then looked at her two teammates, who looked at her, and upon seeing the glint in her eyes, both of them knew what she had on her mind.

"You can't be serious...," Weiss said with a raised eyebrow.

"We're the only ones capable of stopping her Weiss," Ruby countered, "If we don't, someone else is going to get hurt."

"Uh, Ruby, I think your sister is thinking two steps ahead of you," said Jaune as he motioned to the arena, and the said Rose turned her head in the said direction and saw her older sister, running towards the rampaging huntress.

Ruby could only sigh.

"Well, guess that makes our decision easier," she said, before she and the rest of her team took out their scrolls to call in their weapon lockers.

Jaune looked to his other teammates and they also nodded before bringing out their own scrolls.

They were not the only ones thinking this, as other Hunter-in-training teams all brought out their scrolls as well.

* * *

 _ **In the Arena**_

* * *

The final Atlesian trooper went flying after being delivered a devastating kick to his chin, sending him backwards and out of the fighting ring. The young girl stood tall, as she looked around her, seeing all the now either out cold, or groaning soldiers around her.

' _Tft! How these idiots fought on for as long as they did, I'll never know_ ,' she thought, before she picked up the sound of running footsteps heading towards her.

She turned her head slightly managing to catch sight of the incoming gold clad fist heading straight for her face.

She moved her head just slightly to avoid a direct hit, as the fist flew past her face. Taking advantage of the overextended limb, she quickly grabbed the arm, pulling the culprit forward into her back, before driving her free elbow into the attacker's stomach.

"OOMPH!"

The grunt of the attacker made her confirm that she caught the would-be assailant by surprise, before she delivered a mule kick to send them backward.

The would-be attacker was none other than Yang Xiao Long, as she staggered slightly before straightening herself, all the while nursing her stomach which received the elbow strike.

"Dang! You hit good!" Yang said, playful smile on her face, as she entered back into her boxing stance, "Though, you DO know that you're causing a bit of trouble for yourself, don't you?"

If the daughter of Taiyang could see the girl's face, she would've seen the annoyed frown that was in place.

"For the latter, I don't give two shits about how the world views me," she said, making Yang and everyone else's eyes widen in surprise.

"As for the former. That's because you're very obvious to figure out, daughter of Raven Branwen," she said making Yang's eyes widen at the mention of her birth mother, "It was no wonder you were an easy target to manipulate,"

Her fellow blonde looked at her with a look of suspicion on her face.

"What the heck do you mean by that?" she demanded.

The masked girl only looked at her, expression unreadable, due to the said object covering half her face.

"You believed you saw Mercury Black about to attack you, correct?" she asked, and Yang blinked at that before nodding, "What you saw was nothing but a hallucination caused by a rather rare illusory-type semblance. You're welcome by the way,"

Yang's eyes widen in shock at that.

"W...What?" she said in astonishment.

"You were being set up, and the culprits behind it all, are here in this stadium. Right now," she said, before turning to look at the now legless Mercury who was attempting to crawl away from the foray. "And Black is one of them,"

Yang looked at the crawling form of the young man, who she thought attacked her out of being a sore loser, but in truth was nothing more than bait to set her up.

"And now, time to deal with the rest of them," she said, and attempted to turn and run off, before hearing the cocking of a shotgun and turned and saw Yang getting into her boxing position.

"Hold on there, sister," Yang said, "I'm not sure what's going on, but I think you've caused enough problems today. Not to mention you owe me some answers,"

The brawler girl could feel the frown as she saw the masked girl's lips twitch slightly.

"I just saved your reputation from being tarnished by these anarchistic loving trash," the girl said, as she reached for the handle of her sword, "As for your mother, I don't know where she is, and even if I did, I advise you to stay away from her, since she is a selfish thieving bitch."

That actually made Yang bristle a bit as her eyes glowed red slightly.

The masked woman tensed slightly, having sensed the spike of aura behind her, as the fingers of her hand just barely touched the handle.

"Please, don't make me do something I will regret...," she said, and if Yang was crazy, it sounded almost pleadingly, "...like removing an arm,"

For some unknown reason, Yang felt a phantom pain in her right arm, and began to instinctively rub it to alleviate the feeling.

' _W...What the hell...?_ '

Before Yang could comprehend what was going on, the sound of rocket engines could be heard as a large number of rocket lockers began to land all around them in the arena.

Once they impacted with the ground, the locker doors snapped open, revealing various weapons.

"So, I have to get pass all of you, eh?" the masked huntress asked no one in particular, as she looked at the gathering students who were beginning to surround her after they retrieved their respective weapons. "...so be it,"

She then drew her sword and the shield on her back as she looked at the group of hunters in training. She spotted one Trainee Huntress in particular, wielding a red and black scythe-sniper rifle and wearing a red hooded cloak, with her other features being black-red tipped hair, and silver eyes.

Her masked gaze focused on the ravenette who blinked curiously at the way the masked huntress was looking at her.

However, before she could ask why, the woman impassively kept moving her head and body around, looking at all the other members of Team RWBY, more specifically, Weiss and Blake, before onto Team CFVY, who joined them, along with Team SSSN, looking at each member of the respective teams like she was sizing them up, but then when she came to Team JNPR, she suddenly stopped still like a statue.

Everyone blinked, confused by her behavior, as they followed her gaze toward the said team...two people in particular.

* * *

 _ **With said people**_

* * *

Jaune, along with his partner, the famed Pyrrha Nikos (though she doesn't like the fame so much) both blinked in confusion as the girl looked straight at them.

The champion herself could see the masked woman's lips move, as if she wanted to say something, garnering the curious interest of the redheaded Mistralian who had watched the mysterious young woman fight off the Atlesian troops, not too long ago.

She had seen her use her semblance, much like hers, to snatch away their weapons before destroying them, along with dismantling the AK-200s as if they were nothing but ordinary tin toy soldiers.

But, what had also interested Pyrrha about her, was her fighting style, which was eerily similar to her own.

Usually she would chalk it up as an obsessed fan trying to be her. But as she continued watching, she noticed the movements were executed too perfectly, to be just an ordinary imitator. Not to mention, she (Pyrrha) was the only known person with a polarity semblance.

The masked woman then shook her head vigorously.

"No...I need to focus," was what the redhead was able to hear, but what she said next, surprised Pyrrha, "I need to stop them,"

"What do you mean?" the champion said, "Stop who?"

The woman looked at her, for a few moments, before entering a combat stance.

"I have no time for this!" she snapped, surprising everyone. "I won't be stopped til I completed what I came here to do!"

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ _ **: And there's the chapter to the of my Aurea Mors: Alter Series. I know you guys are expecting another chapter for A Broken Man's Last chance. Well let me me inform you all that I'm still working out the kinks in it, as I've been hit by a serious case of Writer's Block, and thus had some trouble writing. That, and also, I've been busting my butt off doing weedeating, as well as my gramps' crazy projects, and the man is in his 70's for crying out loud!**_

 _ **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, and I'll try to deliver the next chapter quickly, but no promises.**_

 _ **Until then, Later!**_


	2. Chapter One: Battle Royale

_**AN : Yo everyone! Here I am, with another chapter to Alter Zwei. I saw some good feedback, though only two reviews, some people have favorited and/or following this fic.**_

 _ **Now, what I forgot to put in the last chapter, is the reduction of OCs from the last two stories, such as the IMD and Raoul Konstantine not being in this second Alter. The only OCs that you'll see, are Dore and Canus, as I have somebody else in mind for the former's 'birth', who is part of RWBY canon, but hasn't been seen in the show as of yet. Who is it? Well, you're just gonna have to wait. XD**_

 _ **Anyway, enough about that. Let's get started!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter One:**_

 _ **Battle Royale**_

* * *

She looked at the redheaded young woman and the blonde young man in front of her. The feeling of her heart beating hard and fast in panic in her chest was unbearable.

A part of her, wanted to rush forward forward and embrace them both, but the rational side of herself squashed those feelings. She had a mission to complete, and had no time to play family with these two.

Besides...they would never accept her, once they found out what she really was.

She took in a deep breath as she readied herself, waiting for the group of students to make the first move.

And she wasn't disappointed as the first one to make a move, was the blonde haired monkey Faunus, who jumped in the air, his weapon in it's bo staff mode as he proceeded to deliver an overhead strike, which she blocked with her shield, before quickly counterattacking by stabbing forward, making the said Faunus jump back to safety, thanks in part to his monkey genes.

That was the que for everyone to begin their own assaults, as they launched their own, with Coco of Team CFVY activating her minigun/brick purse and unleashing a suppressing stream of bullets, the masked woman then used her semblance to yank a steel plate from the floor and used it as a makeshift shield against the fashionista's attack, however this left her open to Yang and Blake who attacked on her right and left respectively.

However, she gave them a surprise, as she sent the piece toward Coco, but thankfully Yatsuhashi was there to cut it in half with his sword, sending the two away from the two Upperclassmen, and missing them.

This however was a distraction as the girl now focused on the two members of Team RWBY. Using her shield she blocked the slash from Blake, while locking blades with Weiss.

"Please stop!" Blake said to the girl as her Gambol Shroud's blade locked with the shield. "We won't hurt you!"

"Blake! She attacked a student and 12 Atlas soldiers, not to mention destroyed Atlas Military Property!" Weiss admonished, as she pressed the attack, "Plus I don't think she's in the mood to back down!"

"You got that right, cake eater," the masked girl said, which caused Weiss to flush in anger at being mocked...especially with the slang that ALL rich kids hate. But before she could make a comeback, the shield on the said girl's left arm holding Blake's sword at bay split down the middle, before opening up and revealing the unmistakable shape of a gun barrel.

Then the barrel snapped forward, pointing into a wide-eyed Blake's face. The masked girl's mouth formed into a small smirk.

"You better move," with that she squeezed the trigger...

A loud bang was heard, as Blake back flipped away, while her clone took the hit.

Seeing one of the obstacles driven back the girl then focused on Weiss, as her shield went back to it's original form and jabbed it at the Schnee Heiress' head, which made contact resulting in a metallic thud.

( _ **A/N: I want to make one thing perfectly clear before moving on. What happens next is not meant as a bashing, this scene is meant for action purposes only. Now *pulls out a bag of popcorn*, on with the story.**_ )

"AGH!" Weiss yelped, while being dazed by the surprise blow, before the feeling of an armored foot hitting her in the stomach made her gasp, followed, by Myrtenaster being swiped out of her hands by the masked girl's longsword.

Then the coup de grace came when the white haired girl felt two hands on the sides of her head before pulled downward and into the masked girl's knee.

Ruby winced as she saw her partner go down, and immediately went to her best friend's aid, first by firing a few shots from her beloved Crescent Rose, forcing the mystery woman back, and then used her semblance to speed toward Weiss and catch her before she hit the ground.

She then looked back at the girl who was now fighting Sun's teammates, Sage and Scarlet, and her thoughts more or less spoke true.

' _This is a lot tougher than I thought.._.,'

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile**_

 _ **Beacon Tower**_

* * *

Professor Ozpin, along with Glynda Goodwitch, could only watch what was happening on the holo-screen, as their students, along with Team SSSN attempt to stop the mystery masked girl, only for her to resist them...quite violently they might add.

Qrow, who was with them moments ago, had already left the office to the Colosseum to stop the fight, since his nieces were fighting the said girl.

Glynda watched the brawl happening before them with narrowed eyes. She was shocked and horrified at what the girl had done to Mercury Black, though to be honest she thought the boy was too smug for his own good. But that doesn't excuse the mysterious young woman for doing what she did, and attacked him after approaching him to shake Yang Xiao Long's hand. Sure, the legs were thankfully prosthetics, but still...

"Ozpin, we have to stop this," she said, turning to the Headmaster, "If this continues, someone is going to be seriously hurt, or worse!"

The Headmaster silently agreed with her, as he watched the broadcast. Thankfully, the students who have not joined in the fight have begun to be evacuated by the staff in the arena, while the only ones remaining were the four teams fighting the girl.

He could see the raw skill that the mysterious huntress showed, especially since she was holding back in her punches against the students. Though, he almost had a heart attack at the sneak attack on Miss Belladonna with the surprise sub-machine gun in her shield, but aside from that, the girl was intending to be as non-lethal as possible.

This certainly has made him curious, and he intends to find out more about the girl.

With that in mind, he grabbed his cane, while leaving his mug behind as he stood up.

"You are right, Glynda," the older man said, "We need to stop this fight. Plus, I'm interested in this girl's motives...provided James doesn't shoot her first and ask questions later."

Glynda sighed at that, knowing that the Headmaster of Atlas will not take the destruction of his toys, or his men being beaten to a pulp, lightly.

The two proceeded to exit the office, both of them intending to stop the skirmish at the arena.

* * *

 _ **At Said location**_

* * *

Scarlet David gave a yell of surprise as he was swept off his feet, before he felt a hand grab his ankle and was then thrown through the air and into Neptune.

"OOMPH!"

The two boys rolled across the floor for a few meters before stopping. Neptune was the first to stand as he shook his head to get rid of the dizziness.

"Ugh, man! That chick's tough!" the blue haired boy said, as he turned back to the fight, as Team CFVY's Fox Alistair and the rabbit faunus Velvet Scarlatina moved in to stop the masked girl, but like before, they were beaten back.

"No kidding," Scarlet said, "It's like fighting a one ma-er...one woman army,"

Neptune didn't say anything as he watched Fox, get a palm thrust to the chest before being bashed in the head by the shield, and finally a spin kick which sent him to the ground.

Both boys winced at that.

"Ohh, that hurt,"

The two then stood up as they prepared to fight her, again. But then a blur of red and bronze got their attention as the Spartan herself rushed in to stop her.

The girl was too busy finishing her fight with Velvet, that she barely had time to block Pyrrha's slash from Milo with her own weapon. But when she realized who she was facing next, her heart began to beat wildly in her chest.

"That's enough!" Pyrrha shouted at her, "What you're doing is not the right way!"

The girl didn't say a word at first, before she pushed back against the sword. Gritting her teeth as she did.

"It's the only way!" she countered, "You don't understand what's coming, do you?! You and these ignorant fools are only getting in my way of stopping it!"

Pyrrha's eyes blinked at that before pressing on.

"Who are you!?" She demanded, "And what is coming!?"

The girl just shook her head, "You wouldn't understand..." she said, her tone holding a tint of sorrow, "You already know part of it due to Ozpin telling you about that...that _thing_ below the school,"

Pyrrha was shocked as soon as the girl said that. She headn't even told anyone yet of what Ozpin, Ironwood, Glynda, and Qrow had shown and told her, or the hard choice they placed on her shoulders.

"How...how do you know...,?" Pyrrha gasped out, but the girl shook her head.

"You would hate me if I told you," she said, her tone wrought with grief, "But know this. I'm doing this not just to save Remnant, in fact I could care less about the Four Kingdoms...I'm...I'm doing it for... for you and Jaune,"

Pyrrha blinked surprisingly at that, "Wait, what-...?"

The surprise gave the distraction the girl needed. While giving a scream of effort, she used her own polarity on the metal floor of the arena to make another section break, and lift it from under Pyrrha's feet before flipping her backward.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted as he rushed toward his partner to help her.

The girl, after watching the two for a moment, immediately began to turn around to leave. She wasted too much time already. Only for something red and black to come speeding toward her, forcing to lift up her shield and block a large scythe.

She growled in annoyance, as she saw the attacker was none other than Ruby Rose herself.

"Get out of my way, Rose!" she snapped, but Ruby shook her head.

"No! I want to know why you attacked Mercury!" she said, making the girl growl again, and Ruby thought she saw her eyes glow red under the tint of the mask for a moment. Not like Yang's eyes when she's angry, but more...like...

"I already told your sister, why," she said, her voice beginning to sound feral, "Ask her for the details!"

Ruby was taken aback by this, as she tried once more to make the girl in front of her stand down, but said person wouldn't hear of it.

Having no other choice, the little Reaper decided to use force to try to stop her, first by firing her Crescent Rose in sniper rifle mode, but then she was surprised when the most unexpected thing happened, she blocked the shots with just her bare hands. Memories of that night of the robbery at the Dust til Dawn store, and possibly the same woman with the Opera mask at the CCT on the night of the Dance.

"I...i-i-it's you...," Ruby said in shock, "...you're-"

"Anyone can do the same as me if they concentrate, Little Rose," the Masked Huntress said, "However, there are those who cheat by stealing power that doesn't belong to them. However, I've already wasted enough time with you, and I have no more time for talk"

She proceeded to charge toward the younger girl, as the said Rose, immediately went on guard, before the girl swung her sword down toward her, which was thankfully blocked by Crescent Rose's own blade resulting in a loud clang echoing in the air for everyone in the arena to hear.

Ruby grunted as she strained to hold the girl back, but the said rogue only increased it, as she pressed further. The Little Reaper had to close her due to the pressure.

'She's...she's too strong!' Ruby thought, her mind reeling and wondering why this girl was so strong.

"As I said before," the Rose heard and opened her eyes and saw that her face was close to the masked visage of the one she was fighting, "Get. Out. Of. My. Way!"

With that, Ruby felt the ground around her rumble, before she felt vertigo and was sent flying away.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted in worry, but it was unnecessary as Ruby, still on the flying piece of debris, used her to semblance to quickly jump off, before landing on the ground, using her aura to cushion her fall.

The brawler sighed in relief before turning to the one who nearly hurt her sister, and saw the masked huntress running toward the stands.

She then slammed her fists together, her hair glowing while her eyes turned red.

"You messed with my sis, you messed with me," she growled and was about to charge off, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning to the side, she saw her Uncle Qrow beside her who looked at her with a serious frown.

"Easy there Firecracker," Qrow said firmly, "That girl already gave you and the rest of these kids a good thrashing already. Time for the grown ups to have a shot,"

Yang looked like she was about to argue, but a squeeze on the shoulder, and Qrow's red eyes narrowing a bit more, stopped her.

She sighed in irritation at that, before she caught sight of Mercury still crawling on the ground with Emerald running towards him to get the now legless boy out of the arena.

Remembering what the girl said to her, Yang decided on a different target to vent out on.

* * *

Emerald was busy dragging the two heads shorter Mercury toward the stands, wanting to get out as quickly as possible.

"Where the hell did that masked huntress come from!?" the green haired thief asked, as she had her arms under his, while said amputee was grumbling.

"How should I know!?" he said, "But one thing's sure, she's doing our job for us, even if we didn't frame the blonde bimbo,"

"Idiot! We're suppose to sow doubt and distrust against Ozpin and the other Academies, and that part of the plan is being fucked!" Emerald reprimanded, as she continued on toward the safety of the stands.

"I'm sorry...,"

Both of them froze at the familiar voice, before turning and seeing none other than the said blonde herself, who was giving a not so friendly smile.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but did you say something about framing me, and something that involves distrust and doubt?" Yang said as she playfully dug her pinky into her ear, "Cause I think I got something in my ear when I was coming over to talk to you."

The two didn't say anything, but then Yang's hair started to glow gold, and her eyes shifted to red.

"So, how about you two and I have a little chat,"

* * *

Cinder was furious.

No scratch that, she was downright pissed off, as she scowled at the opposite wall of the hallway.

This was not part of the plan at all! True, that masked huntress had helped in causing fear and panic to a level where the Grimm will be coaxed into a frenzy, but it's not enough to bring in the large overwhelming amount needed to bring Vale and Beacon to their knees. Not to mention, placing doubt, and distrust toward the Hunters, the Acadmies, and finally Ozpin.

' _Well, at least the virus I installed in the CCT hasn't been compromised_ ,' she thought as she drew out her black scroll, a smirk on her face as she opened it, and saw that the signal to the virus was still strong.

' _I'll just have to improvise the plan a little_ ,'

She then closed the scroll, and prepared to leave and rendezvous with Emerald and Mercury back at the hideout. Yes, they had hit a snag, but nothing they couldn't fix.

However, before she could, a distinct sound like a disc flying through the air caught, and she snapped to her left, and barely had any time to dodge the incoming round shield, which embedded in the spot where she was. If she hadn't caught the sound just a second earlier, that would've been a very messy decapitation.

"Well crap, I missed," she heard and snapped around, seeing the one responsible for making a mess of the original plan. She turned as the shield pulled itself from the wall, black energy surrounding as it returned to the arm of it's owner. "I'll be sure not to miss the next time."

Cinder's brow scrunched, as she glared at the girl. She took notice of the malice in her voice, and the tightening on the grip of her sword.

"Who are you?" she said, "Did I wrong you in another life?"

She felt the glare from the masked eyes as the girl answered.

"In a way you did," she answered as she assumed her guard stance, with the shield up in front, weapon gripped tight, and her front foot forward, "As for who I am...it's Arkos... Dorée Arkos."

She then charged at her, making Cinder use her Fall Maiden Powers to block the sword strike, which almost caused her to buckle.

"And you...," Dorée growled, "...Are at the top of my shit list, BITCH!"

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112 : And finally! Done! Man that was difficult to write! Not to mention, my grandfather and my weedeating job kept me EXTREMELY busy!**_

 _ **Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I will appreciate any ideas you think would help the story move along...though, except for certain angry flaming trolls who would want me to terminate this like they do to so many others.**_

 _ **But, enough of that, please leave a review, fav, or follow. And visit my Arkos Child Challenge Forum if you're interested, no rush intended.**_

 _ **Until next time. Later!**_


	3. Chapter 2: Look Familiar?

_**Patriot-112 : Hey Everyone, and here we are with another chapter of Alter Zwei! Now before we begin, I just want to say, that although Ozpin is definitely a hundred times better than a certain late Headmaster of Hogwarts, (*CoughDumblesCough*) I have a good amount of beef towards him. Of course, I have my reasons, but there is too much to list, so I won't go into explaining it.**_

 _ **So, I got nothing else to say, so...let's get with the show!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter Two :**_

 _ **Look Familiar?**_

* * *

Qrow after managing to calm his niece down, went after the masked girl, who went off into the stands after forcing Ruby away.

Thankfully, his honorary niece/protege was not seriously hurt, thanks to all the training he gave her. However, he was gonna teach that masked girl a lesson when he finds her, as he looked through the halls looking for the rogue, the signs of battle absolutely clear.

Of course, he was also curious as to who the girl was. At first, he thought it was the assailant that attacked Amber, but threw that out the window, due to the hair color and different attire. Not to mention the girl fought a lot like the Nikos girl who was Ozpin's chosen candidate for being Amber's replacement, though unlike the redhead, this girl was more vicious, and not afraid to play dirty, if watching her beat Ironwood's grunts was any indication.

Before he continue his musing, a large bang from down the hall got his attention and he immediately dashed toward the sound.

"This day just keeps getting more and more...complicated,"

* * *

Cinder's body slammed against the wall, eliciting a strained grunt from the Fallen Maiden, before she is grabbed by the front of her bandaged shirt and made to look at the masked snarl visage of the rogue huntress who attempts to slam an aura infused fist into her face, but the amber eyed bitch manages to move it to the side, while the fist slams into the wall instead, and causing spider web cracks to appear.

The Pawn of Salem then drove her knee into the girl's stomach, forcing her to let go, and allowing her to summon her glass sword and attempt to deliver an overhead slash on the head of the nuisance.

However, with quick reflexes, Dorée managed to to block it with her own shield before attempt the same trick she did with Blake, though with more lethal intent, as her hidden SMG appeared and she squeezed the trigger.

The repeating pow of the firearm reverberated off the walls, but Cinder, thanks to the Fall Maiden powers she stole, managed to block the rounds. Though it was still a close call.

Dorée growled before continuing her attack, by thrusting her sword (not THAT way you sexual innuendo freaks) at her stomach, only for Cinder to move to the side, the blade impaling the wall, and away from her.

"What's wrong, _Cinder Fall_?" Dorée snarled out, making the flame bitch turn to her, "Afraid to use your powers so that failure Ozpin wouldn't find you? Of course, he couldn't do it right, even if he tried,"

Cinder blinked at the hostility the girl seemed to have toward the Headmaster of Beacon.

"And what's your grievance with the old fool?" Cinder remarked, as Dorée's eyes narrowed behind her mask.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she said, before she rushed forward again, and attempted to decapitate her, only for Cinder to deflect it away.

The two continued their duel, until they reached the stadium's dock, where a number of students and other spectators were. All of them waiting to be evacuated, due to the rampage by the Rogue huntress.

But, once the crowd noticed them coming, they immediately begin to run away from the fight.

However, one person didn't run, as mismatched brown and pink eyes stared at the fight between Cinder and the masked rogue, all the while staying near an ambulance airship.

Back with the two women, they continued their dance of death, with Cinder being forced to use more of her half of the Fall Maiden powers, as she used her two-sword fighting style to keep even with the annoyance facing her.

Dorée continued her assault, growing more vicious in her attacks. However, one swing from one of Cinder's swords, managed to cut one of the pouches on her belt, and a familiar device fell out and landed on the ground.

However, the duel was about to be interrupted, as she heard the sound of rushing footsteps, and the running gears of a weapon shifting, forcing her to break off her duel with Cinder, and intercepting a large sword with her shield, in which the force of the blow sent her flying back, before flipping in mid-air and landing on the ground in a kneeling position.

"Alright now, I think that's enough now, kid," said a male voice, and the masked huntress looked up and cursed, seeing that it was none other than Qrow "Bad Luck Charm" Branwen.

"Oh great, the walking drunk bad luck charm himself," Doré muttered, not wanting to face Qrow now, in fact she didn't intend to face him... _ever_!

In Qrow's perspective, he blinked at the young woman's words, especially the bad luck charm part.

Not many knew about his semblance, the few included being his sister, Summer, Taiyang, and Oz.

He mentally filed that away for the moment, as he looked at the girl who was now assuming a guard position.

He sighed at the obvious defiance the girl was showing.

"Look kid, I don't know what your deal is but you need to-," he was cut off as the girl rushed forward, her speed matching matching that of Winter's.

"Geez! Not the talking type, huh!?" Qrow mused out loud, as he began to dodge her swings, stabs, and slashes.

"I don't talk with _yes men_ who blindly follow old fools who keep too many secrets and unnecessarily put others who aren't ready in danger," the masked girl growled, "Especially when they pick a young woman, who is still just a student, and give her the difficult choice of choosing overwhelming power at the possible cost of losing everything and everyone she holds dear, or leaving the world to rot."

Qrow could only blink in utter surprise at this.

"Wait...what?" he exclaimed, ' _Did she mean the Cereal Girl? And how the hell does she-OH SHIT!_ '

He had to jump out of the way of an incoming piece of pipe, which was covered in a black glow.

Before the masked huntress could continue her attack the sound of engines made her snap around, as Cinder boarded the medical airship as it began to take off, causing her hidden eyes to widen in fury.

"YOU COWARD! I won't let you get away!" she shouted as she drew her left arm back, and with all of her might, and the help of her semblance, hurled the disc at the dust plane, as it left the dock, hitting one if it's engines, and causing smoke to billow and it proceeded to descend rapidly toward the ground.

"RAAAGGH!" Dorée screamed angrily, cursing herself for being distracted, just as Qrow was attempting to move forward to knock her out, only for the same pipe to hit his legs and swept him off his feet and onto his rear. He then felt the metal pipe wrap around his legs, before he tried to get it off.

"Oh great!" he exclaimed, as he was now stuck.

"You drunk _moron_!" He heard the girl shout as she looked at him with a PISSED OFF expression, from what he could tell from the parts of her he could see. And if he was crazy, he could see her eyes glowing red behind the mask, "I had her... and now because of _you_ , my mission is at risk!"

Her gripped on her sword tightened.

"I should kill you for getting in my way," she snarled out, "But right now, _she's_ more important,"

With that said, and using her polarity, she jumped on her shield, as she levitated after the crashed airship, determined not to let her prey get away.

Qrow watched as she left, and then proceeded to try and get the pipe off.

"Uncle Qrow!"

He turned his head as he saw Ruby, along with her team and Team JNPR, CVFY, and SSSN.

"Are you alright!?" the red-hooded girl asked in concern as Qrow still continued to try and get himself loose.

"I'm okay, considering I'm a little 'tied up' at the moment," Qrow answered, as he gripped the pipe.

"Let me take care of that," said Pyrrha as her hand glowed black, and the same glow surrounded the pipe as it untwisted and released Qrow, who stood back up.

"Thanks, Cereal Girl," he said, and Pyrrha nodded, before the champion noticed a glint of sunlight in the corner of her eye. Turning fully, she spotted what looked to be a scroll.

She proceeded to walk over to it, noticed by Jaune as well, who proceeded to follow her.

Meanwhile, after Ruby helped her uncle up, she began asking questions.

"Uncle Qrow, who was that woman? Why did she attack Mercury?" Ruby asked, making the veteran huntsman sigh.

"To be honest, kiddo. I don't have a clue," he said, "But one thing's for sure, she's gotta be stopped before she gets herself or anyone else hurt...Of course, a little late for Black, and the Atlas grunts."

"Of which I intend to arrest her for!" a voice exclaimed, and everyone turned and spotted none other than an irate General James Ironwood. Qrow sighed at that.

"Good luck with that Tin Man, cause I don't think she intends on surrendering...probably still won't even after she's done what she's come here to do," he said, making Ironwood blink at that, before his frown increased.

"Regardless, she assaulted a student and Atlas Personnel, and destroyed military property." James insisted, before they heard the sounds of kicking and screaming heading their way.

They turned and saw Yang dragging the now bruised up Mercury and Emerald by their hair, and proceeded to throw the two of them toward the large group.

"Yang, wha...?" Blake began to ask, before the blonde brawler held up her hand, before walking over to the two and stomped her heel into Emerald's back, who yelped in pain.

"Now, tell them what you told me, and don't even try to lie, stall for time, or use that Semblance of yours, because if you do...," She added more pressure, making Emerald struggle and gasp.

"A-Alright! ALRIGHT!" Emerald screamed out, and Yang smirked.

"Good girl, now tell 'em." she said, her tone hard.

While this was going on, Pyrrha had just picked up the scroll as Jaune approached not long after, and looked at the device. It looked like any other scroll, except it was red with gold trim, and had an emblem in the top right corner, causing Pyrrha to look at it, before she recognized it...or them.

It was her emblem, the spear crossing the shield, and Jaune's own family emblem, the twin crescents. With the shield and spear black, and the crescents white.

She was not the only one to notice as Jaune was also surprised to see his emblem...merged with that of his partners. It then clicked in his mind when he first saw the masked girl.

"I...I saw that before...," he said, making Pyrrha look at him, "It...It was on that girl's shield. You think...you think this could be her Scroll?"

The Spartan turned back to look at the scroll, the girl's words from before still buzzing in her head.

" _I'm doing this not just to save Remnant, in fact I could care less about the Four Kingdoms. ...I-I'm...I'm doing it for... for you and Jaune,_ "

Her mind was running a mile a minute. In her hand was possibly the answers to who the masked girl really was, and why she was doing what she did.

And so, she came to the decision to access the scroll.

* * *

 _ **Emerald Forest**_

* * *

She landed with a loud thud, as her shield, floating via polarity, returned to her arm. In front of her was the now trashed medical airship that Cinder used to leave the Colosseum, which had crashed landed, as the skid marks and torn up ground indicated.

She saw the hatch open, and walked toward the crashed vessel to look inside, only to find one person, and it was not who she was after, but rather the body guard of that damn thief, Roman Torchwick...the bubble gum and brunette hair, were a dead give away, as this was none other than Neopolitan, another illusionist who is able to easily disguise herself.

The girl was set prone against the control panel, blood dripping slightly from her head, before she groaned in pain, as she woke up from unconsciousness.

Dorée, once she saw her stir and begin waking up, immediately walked over, and grabbed the ice cream themed girl by the scruff of her paramedic coat, and roughly lifted her out of the pilot chair and slammed her into the wall of the airship, this caused Neo to wake up entirely, as her eyes blinked wearily and looked at the masked visage of the huntress who attacked Mercury and fought Cinder. The assistant of Torchwick began shaking in fear as she looked at this person.

This girl has the same type of aura as the masked raven haired woman she met back in the rail tunnel, and she knew that she was dangerous. Her instincts screamed at her to flee, but right now, she was trapped as Doré's hand then gripped tightly around her throat, causing her to struggle.

"I know you can't speak, Neopolitan," said masked woman said, causing Neo's eyes to widen in shock that the woman knew her name, "But I know there are other ways you can tell me what I want to know, without your voice. So..."

With that, her grip tightened on the girl's neck and Neo began gagging as her feet began kicking.

"Where. Did. Cinder. GO!?"

* * *

 _ **Back at the Colosseum**_

* * *

The Bullhead carrying Ozpin and Glynda arrived at the flying stadium's docks, and just as it landed, the side doors opened and the Headmaster and the combat teacher jumped out. They spot the group of students, along with their colleagues, and immediately ran over, as they saw Yang holding a bruised Mercury Black by the front of his shirt.

"So, you two part of some doomsday Grimm worshiping cult, huh!?" the blonde haired girl shouted, her eyes red and hair aflame as she shook the now legless boy furiously, "Hoping to wreck everything so people would panic and the Grimm would come in!? And with that, the White Fang as an added bonus to the carnage!? Well, reality check bud! Someone already found you out!"

"Miss Xiao Long! Stop this at once!" Glynda shouted in reprimanding protest, and attempted to use her telepathy semblance to stop the daughter of Raven Branwen, only for the hand of General Ironwood to hold her shoulder, stopping her and making her look at the general in surprise.

"James what are you-?" she began to ask, but noticed the serious look on his face.

"No Glynda..." he said, his tone serious as Ozpin came over, the general then turned to him, giving his fellow headmaster the look that it pertains to _her_.

Ozpin blinked, getting the message, as he looked to the Xiao Long who looked ready to give Mercury another punch.

But then...

A horrified gasp got their attention as they turned to Pyrrha and Jaune who were looking at something.

"Miss Nikos...?," Ozpin said and began walking over, along with everyone, as Yang knocked Mercury out and joined the others, but not before warning a now scared Emerald to stay where she was... or else. She made good on the threat by punching her fist into her palm, as her way of explaining that she will beat the thief to a pulp. Emerald nodded fearfully, and Yang took that as a yes and went over to see what the fuss was about.

As they approached, they could see Pyrrha's hands shaking, making them more concerned for the Spartan.

"Pyrrha? Jaune? Are.. you okay?" Ruby asked in worry, and they didn't hear anything from her or Jaune for a moment until the Mistralian spoke, in almost a whisper.

"T-That's...impossible,"

This caused everyone to get really worried as Ruby jogged up to the two partners to look at what they were seeing.

What she saw made her eyes widen in shock, in Pyrrha's hands was the scroll they found, but it was what on the screen that shocked her...

* * *

 _ **Emerald Forest**_

* * *

Cinder growled angrily as she moved through the forest as she clutched her arm.

"Crazy BITCH!" she snapped, "She put everything in jeopardy, and the plan is in danger of failing! ... *Sigh* Hopefully, I can salvage this and try to find another way to have the Grimm attack Vale and Beacon. I just hope _she_ can be patient for a little-,"

But as she plotted her plan B, her ears picked up the sound of something metallic spinning and sawing through trees, before she ducked as an annoyingly familiar shield flew over her.

' _Grrr! Persistently._ Annoying!' she growled mentally before hearing footsteps and turned to see none other than the said masked huntress.

"Thought you'd get away, didn't you?" she asked rhetorically, as her shield came back to her left arm, resulting in the resounding click. She then, much to Cinder's confusion stabbed the blade of the sword in her right hand into the ground.

"And now that we're alone..." she said, as the now empty hand reached up toward her face, "the time for masks...is over,"

With that, her fingers grasped the said object, and slid it off of her face.

Amber eyes blinked as the mask slowly came off, revealing the hidden part of her face, before they widened in shock at seeing the familiar vivid green eyes that snapped open, along with the similarly familiar facial features.

Said familiar eyes glared at Cinder, before Dorée reached under the collar of the battle dress, as if fiddling with something, before pulling what looked to be a choker collar off and throwing it away, before she began to speak again, but in a voice she knew.

"Take a good look, Cinder," Doré said, her voice radically changed, "Look at my _eyes_..."

She motioned to said organs.

"Look at my _face_...,"

She ran two fingers down her own face.

"Listen to my _voice_..." She said, her glare still strong, "Do I look familiar? Do I sound familiar? ...Don't I look and sound like someone...you planned to _murder_!?,"

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112 : ...Oh dear. I wonder what Cinder is thinking? *Shrugs* Oh well, it's not like anyone cares about her...oh man, now I sound like a dick- Oh what the hell am I talking about!? You all know she deserves it, and more!**_

 _ **Anyway, for those who are confused that Penny hasn't shown up in this yet, please know that she is around, and will appear in the next chapter, alright? Also for those of you waiting for an update for Naruto and the Kyuubi Child...I. Have. Not. Forgotten. Okay? Good. I just don't know what to write yet, but I'm going to get back to it as soon as I get out of my RWBY-itis phase.**_

 _ **Until the next chapter my peeps. Later~!**_


	4. Chapter 3: Question of Sanity

_**Patriot-112: And another chapter for you all! Nothing much else to say except leave a review, Fav, or follow.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Monty Oum (RIP) and Rooster Teeth.**_

 _ **Now with that out of the way...On with the reading**_!

* * *

 _ **Chapter Three:**_

 _ **Question of Sanity**_

* * *

 _ **Unknown**_

* * *

"You've been quiet for hours," she said with concern in her voice, "What is it that you have to tell that we have to be so far away from the compound?"

A sigh was heard, as the woman she was following, and who had raised her since she was little, turned to her, her lone eye holding regret.

"Dorée...I...I have something, that you need to know," she said as Doré blinked in confusion and worry at the apprehension in her caretaker's voice, but what she said next made her eyes widen, "It...it concerns your Parents' deaths,"

"W...W-What is it?" the blonde-red streaked girl asked, and she watched as tears fell down on the older woman's cheeks.

"I-I...I've been holding this secret from you for so long. Long before you came into this world...but, but the truth is...," her face then formed a smile, which had no mirth, no happiness, and no love. Instead, there was only regret, and self loathing, "...I'm the one who killed your parents!"

Dorée felt as if the air was sucked out of her, as her face morphed into horrified shock.

"...I'm the one...who killed Pyrrha Nikos! I shot her in the heart with my arrow on that day Beacon fell, and I watched with glee as she took her final gasps before I finally incinerated her corpse," she said, as Dorée's expression turned even more horrified, "I was the one, who wounded your father, and brought him before Salem, before she had him tortured, while I listened to his screams of agony, before I finally put him out of his misery and burned him alive!,"

As Dorée heard everything that she said, a dark cold feeling began to form within, as a voice whispered in her head.

" _ **She betrayed you...she murdered your family, and robbed you the chance of being born into this world instead of being created in a tank. She even denied both your parents a proper burial, and bodies for their friends to mourn! Kill her...KILL HER NOW!**_ ,"

The more the voice spoke, the worse the feeling got. Soon, one emotion immediately began to fester as it slowly but surely began to burn into her soul...rage.

"And thus, after I found out what Salem really planned to do, I had _him_ use the cloning technology, using the DNA of your parents to create you. You are the only hope left now, that could stop this from ever happening." the now revealed Cinder Fall said, as she looked at the girl, whose head was bowed, the hair shadowing her eyes, as tears leaked down the sides of her face.

But then, her face snapped up as her brilliant green orbs were replaced, by something much different.

Even Cinder was shocked by this, before realization clicked in her mind.

' _No...Merlot, you bastard! What have you done!?_ ' she thought, as she looked at the girl's eyes.

The sclera was blood red, while the iris and pupil were now colored a sinister yellow...these were not the eyes of a human, or a Faunus... but of a Grimm.

* * *

 _ **Present**_

* * *

Dorée continued to glare at the face of the Fallen Maiden, who looked shocked as she looked at the girl who looked like the Invincible Girl that Ozpin had chosen as candidate for replacing Amber as the next Fall Maiden. True she had plans to ...remove Nikos from the equation if the opportunity arose, which the possibility was likely high due to the said Mistralian's sense of duty. But the question was how did this girl find out about her plans.

"You would succeed in fulfilling your dark desires," the girl spoke up, causing Cinder to blink, "But in return, you will suffer humiliation at the hands of Ozpin's hidden Ace in the Hole,"

Cinder's eyes widen at that.

'Hidden Ace? Ozpin is hiding something else other than the Fall Maiden...?'

Before she could think more on that, the strange girl threw her shield at her again, forcing her to dodge out of the way.

The girl then dropped the no longer needed mask to the ground, as the shield, like a boomerang to Doré's left arm, while she redrew her sword from the ground.

"But..." she said, before entering a combat stance, "...I'm going to make sure you don't get anywhere near them!,"

As she spoke this, something happened, that shocked Cinder to her core, as the girl's eyes suddenly lit in flame...like her powers. Only it was in both eyes instead of one.

"So Cinder...," the armored huntress said, "...wanna see who is the false Fall Maiden, now!?"

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile, Amity Colosseum**_

* * *

Pyrrha and Jaune couldn't comprehend what they were seeing.

It was just...just plain insanity...

The reason they were feeling this way, was the profile page of the owner of the scroll...

* * *

 _ **Subject Profile: #0010**_

 _ **Name: Arkos, Dorée**_

 _ **Weapon: Aurea Mors (Sword/SMG transforming shield combo)**_

 _ **Reserve Weapons: *Classified***_

 _ **Handedness: Ambidextrous**_

 _ **Semblance: Polarity**_

 _ **Aura: Gold**_

 _ **Gender: Female**_

 _ **Age: 17 years**_

 _ **Hair color: Blonde with red highlights**_

 _ **Eye color: vivid-green**_

 _ **Complexion: Pale white, brand burn scar on back**_

 _ **Height: 6'0" in heels (1.83 meters)**_

 _ **Genetic type: Human Clone**_

 _ **Skill Levels: A-class Stealth Expert, A-class Assassin, S-class CQC specialist, AA-class Markswoman, B-class computer hacker**_

 _ **Genetic Donors/Parents:...Arc, Jaune (Status as of 30 AFB*: Deceased)...Nikos, Pyrrha (Status as of 30 AFB: Deceased)**_

 _ **Other genetic modifications: *Classified***_

* * *

While they were shocked and confused at the last parts, the one thing they focused on the most, was the picture of the girl herself...without the mask.

The face...the eyes...it was a perfect picture image of Pyrrha...with the exception of the blonde/red streaked hair.

"But...but how...?" Pyrrha said, barely able to form any words.

"Miss Nikos," she turned and saw General Ironwood holding out his hand, "Let me see the scroll, if you please,"

Pyrrha hesitantly handed the scroll to the General, as he took and proceeded to do something as he took his own scroll and used a scanner on the device to sweep over the device.

They then watched as the General waited patiently before they heard a ding and a green light blinked on his scroll. They heard James sigh.

"No signs of tampering, photoshopping, or manipulating of any kind..." he said handing the scroll back to Pyrrha, "...the photo is real,"

The Spartan and her partner only continued to look at the picture of the girl. Their thoughts running a mile a minute.

"Wait...didn't that scroll say that girl is...a clone?" Weiss queried, and looked at Jaune and Pyrrha, "Of you two no less. And...why does it say that you're dead?,"

Everyone eyes widened at that, before double checking it, and saw that Weiss was right.

They were even more confused by the '30 AFB'*.

What did it mean?

Pyrrha then redirected her gaze at the photo of the girl, and felt, for the life of her she couldn't understand, a very strong feeling for her. She was not alone in that regard as Jaune looked at the picture.

However, it was Yang that made the comment that caused the two to blush atomic red.

"Clone or not, at least we know what their kid would look like," she said, causing the said two partners to snap their heads toward her eyes wide in shock.

"YANG!" they both shouted, "NOW'S NOT THE TIME!"

They couldn't believe that the blonde brawler said that...though Pyrrha, began to think of a possible future with her team leader, before remembering the possibility of never seeing him again if she accepted the Fall Maiden powers.

She felt her heart clench at that. Sure it sounded plausible to actually say yes, if it meant to protect the world...but actually making the decision was easier said than done.

Not to mention there is the danger of the transfer changing her into someone or something she didn't want to be.

But most important and foremost to her...is losing the blonde knight, forever.

"I hope you're all done,"

Everyone blinked and turned to the source of the voice that had just spoken up.

What they saw was an individual, hooded and cloaked in grey, with the hood covering their head, with the only thing visible being the grizzled bearded face of a man. Other features on the person couldn't be seen except a pair of black hard leather jackboots.

The man then spoke again, with his voice holding disappointment and annoyance.

"Up to your own arrogant tricks again, _Ozpin_?," he said, making blink and look at the headmaster who sighed tiredly.

"Hello Canus, it's... been a while," the headmaster said, as the man pulled back his hood, revealing a middle aged man, with greying brown hair, and a pair of grey colored eyes, that held wisdom beyond his years, along with a trace of annoyance.

"Yeah, enough for me to see all the fuckups you did," he said, and looked to Glynda, Qrow, and James, while noticing the students "Ah, and you brought the whole gang here, good. Now I can tell everyone at once."

"I don't think now is the best of times, Canus," Ozpin said, with a tone that sounded both desperately and warning, something that the students all blinked at.

"Oh, it IS a perfect time, Oz," Canus rebuked, "Besides, I'm tired of all the secrets being kept anyway,"

"Okay hold on," Weiss spoke up, and then pointed to Canus, "Who is this man? And how do you know him?"

"It's...a bit complicated Miss Schnee," James said with a sigh.

"It's not complicated at all General Ironass," Canus mocked, causing the said general to glare at him and Ozpin to sigh.

"Canus...," said Headmaster warned, "Please don't start an argument,"

Canus only made a scoffing sound at that.

"You're right, but only because I'm here because of that girl who, rather recklessly, sliced off that one little prick's legs off, and made your men Jimbo, look like a joke," he said, causing James to growl a bit, while everyone else blinked.

"You knew about her? And didn't bother to tell us!?" said Glynda, her face scowling at the man.

"Hey, don't blame me!" Canus retorted, "You all decided not to listen to me when I suggested placing an escort for newly made Maidens who were inexperienced, but did anyone listen to me? Nope! And did you listened to me when I strongly advised not to bring Amber here after she was attacked!? Hell no, you didn't! And when I suggested to move the relics to different locations, what did you do!? You flat out did NOTHING! And finally, this the kicker, you broke the number one Cardinal Rule of the Maidens... pick a girl who doesn't have anything to lose! Instead you picked one who has A LOT to lose!"

Pyrrha's eyes widen at that, while her partner, along with everyone else not in the know, was confused. Jaune made a mental note to talk to her about what the man was saying later.

"Canus, don't talk about the Order's secrets here," Ozpin whispered in a warning tone, "And Miss Nikos is a perfect candidate-,"

"Don't give me that shit, Ozpin," Canus growled out, "Just don't. I served the Order faithfully, but when it started to ignore my suggestions and warnings, and led to many losses for us, all that faith went out the window. That's why I had to fight _her_ , in my own way. Of course, thanks to my semblance, I had to endure a hundred deaths to learn her secrets,"

All three of the adults eyes widen at that.

"You...you mean?" James said in shock, causing Canus to sigh.

"Yeah, and let me tell you...it was not sunshine and daisies," the grey eyed man said, before his face hardened, "But right, we don't have enough time. We need to get to that girl before...wait, where's the green haired girl? The illusionist!,"

Everyone's eyes widened before they snapped over to where the two members of Cinder's posse were. And though Mercury was still there, a certain green haired thief was now missing. Needless to say, Canus and a certain, now pissed off, blonde had the same thought.

"SHIT!"

It was then made worse...when the sound of a explosion got their attention making them look in the direction of the Emerald Forest.

"Okay...make that double shit!" He then turned to Pyrrha and Jaune, and immediately gave a irritated sigh, "I think you two and your team, should come with me..."

This caused the said partners and their fellow teammates to look at him.

"...there is a lot that needs to be told, and it concerns you two most of all," he said before turning to head into another direction.

The said team blinked before they followed, with slight hesitance of course. The teachers and other students looked on as the five people left to where most likely the masked girl was.

Ruby looked at her quickly departing friends with concern, especially since that girl...Dorée, was basically Jaune and Pyrrha's daughter...genetically, or some scientific thing, of course.

However, confusing science stuff aside, she knew that her friends were gonna need help. She then turned to her teammates, who looked at her.

Yang gave a smirk, Blake just nodded, while Weiss sighed.

"Well, another adventure involving something that is dangerous and that can most likely kill us," she grumbled, before shrugging as a small smile adorned her face, "I guess we'll never get out of this habit,"

* * *

Cinder cursed as she ducked a flaming ball...of metal.

This girl just kept surprising her, and surprising her...first, she knew of their plan, then she revealed her apparent connection to the 'Invincible Girl', and then she revealed that she was a Maiden.

But the most shocking part was...that she was the Fall Maiden! A full powered one at that, while she only had half of the power she stole from the previous Maiden, which didn't make a lick of sense to her.

How could she have all of the Fall Maiden powers!?

Her thoughts were interrupted as the girl flew through the air, via the powers, and delivered a kick to Cinder's head sending her flying back a good distance away.

Dorée growled ferally, as her irises shifted to a mixed red/yellow slightly, before she shook her head, and grabbed her head, as she felt a sharp pain.

 _'No! This is my fight! Not yours!_ '

" _ **You need me to defeat her, girl. With me you'll be able to ensure she won't make it out of here alive, instead of just losing a eye, an arm, and being temporarily mute...**_ "

' _No...I won't use you again! ...Not after that day,_ '

" _ **Don't you want them to survive!?**_ "

' _...Shut up..._ ,'

" _ **DON'T YOU!?**_ "

"SHUT UP!" She screamed into the air, "I don't need you! I don't need anyone!"

She then proceeded to rush after Cinder, as a single tear fell from her eye.

"...No one,"

* * *

Emerald breathed a sigh as she just managed to get away from the Hunters. Of course, and to her hidden regret, she had to knock out Mercury to shut him up while she got away, and head to the loading bay of the Colosseum where Adam said he will meet her, along with a dozen White Fang members.

Her scroll then beeped and she cursed, before looking around to check if anyone was around before he drew her scroll from her pouch. She knew it was undoubtedly Cinder, probably demanding where she is.

After turning it on, she heard said Fallen Maiden's voice.

" _Emerald!? Where are you!?_ "

"Sorry Cinder, the bimbo brawler caught me and Mercury...," the thief apologized, before sighing, "Also, they now know the full plan. I just got away, but I had to leave Mercury behind due to his legs,"

She heard Cinder curse a mile a minute, before she stopped.

" _Alright. Just find Adam and meet me at the ruins of the Emerald Forest, that crazy bitch is after me and- AAGGH-! *SMASH-zzzzzttt!*_ "

"Cinder? Cinder!" Emerald said, before cursing herself and she continued on her way toward the loading bay.

* * *

"Let's just keep this between us, alright?" Dorée said, Cinder's scroll now smashed under her foot, "No need to call your little pets into this battle between us Maidens,"

Cinder only glared at her.

"You're fucking insane!" the Fallen Maiden shouted, while the blonde haired version of Pyrrha just shrugged.

"Maybe. Maybe not." she said, before she narrowed her eyes, "But at least I'm not an anarchistic murderer,"

Cinder's mouth formed into a snarl in response at her, "You think killing me will stop Beacon from falling?" she said, not bothering to hide the plan, anymore, "You think killing me will stop the inevitable!? It won't! She will simply send someone else to take my place! They will succeed where I didn't!"

Doré looked at her impassively at that.

"I know...," she spoke softly, "...but that doesn't mean I won't stop. Whether your Queen sends that psychotic Scorpion, that condescending arrogant doctor, or the silent giant, or any of her more powerful children, it doesn't matter to me,"

She raised her sword arm, with the tip of the weapon aimed directly at Cinder.

"But what does matter, is if I delay your and her plans long enough for them to endure peace just a little longer," she then assumed her stance once more, "And to do that, I will be the one to shoulder their burdens,"

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112:**_ _ **...Oh man, it appears this version of my character has some secrets, other than being a clone of our favorite lovebirds. And it's definitely not a good thing.**_

 ** _For those of who guessed it was Merlot, congratulations! I always thought he was a bit of a geneticist, since he experimented with Grimm. What's to say he could've done experiments by combining both human and Grimm genes? One thing is for certain, it definitely would've caused our favorite teams some trouble._**

 ** _*: 30 AFB: 30 years after the Fall of Beacon_**

 ** _Until then my friends, later!_**


	5. Chapter 4: Losing Control

_**Patriot-112: Okay...I'm REALLY sorry it took this long to update! But, between my workaholic grandfather, my nosy mother, projects with other fanfic writers, and my nieces, Hurricane and Tornado, plus some cash work, it's been a busy Spring and Summer. I can't promise this won't happen again, but I will not abandon this fic, or any of my other fics.**_

 _ **Now then, let's continue!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: All rights belong to RT and the late Monty Oum.**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 4:**_

 _ **Losing Control**_

* * *

A single Bullhead flew over the Emerald Forest, as the people inside listened to what Canus just told them.

"Wait a minute? You're saying you have a semblance that allows you to live your future, and it only cancels when you die in that future?" Jaune asked, while the rest of Team JNPR, along with Team RWBY who tagged along, gave the man astounded looks.

"Pretty much, yeah," Canus said, as he turned back to the cockpit. "How close are we to that beacon, Clover?"

A female voice sounded from the cockpit...where there was no one piloting it.

"Just a few more minutes, Canus."

Canus nodded before turning back to the others.

"Any other questions?" he asked, and it was Pyrrha who asked, though with some hesitation.

"What...what happened in...the future?" she said, and Canus sighed.

"Well, in a literal sense, it's Hell," he said, before elaborating, "Humanity and the Faunus are on the brink of extinction, with just very few pockets of survivors remaining, Grimm running rampant all over the place, and Remnant itself being a virtual wasteland."

The two teams could only look at the man with a bit of fear and foreboding. They couldn't imagine what it must've looked like in the future of their world.

"Wh...What about us?" Ruby asked, and Canus could only sigh again, before looking at them with a sombre look.

"You were all killed," he said, making their eyes widen in horror, "One. By One...The first being that...peculiar friend of yours. Penny, if I remember right."

Ruby's eyes widen in horror at the thought of the said Android dying.

However before she could say anything, he rose a finger toward Pyrrha who instantly paled.

"Then her," he said, and the reactions from Team JNPR were obvious.

Jaune's face was contorted with horror, Nora looked on the verge of either crying or breaking something, while Ren's hands were shaking, while his eyes narrowed.

"In case you're wondering when this will, or would've happened, not that far off." He explained, "Next twenty four hours or so,"

"What!?" Ruby shouted, her eyes wide with extreme worry, "Tomorrow!?"

The rosette looked toward Pyrrha, who now looked even more paler than usual.

"No...n-no, no way! That won't happen!" Jaune said, clearly in denial and fear.

"It did happen, kid." Canus said, "Saw it through my semblance."

Everyone immediately looked toward Pyrrha, not at all liking the fact that Pyrrha would die. The said champion now trembling at the foretelling of her death.

"And the reason why, was because she went off to fight someone who was not only more powerful than her. Feeling that she could keep them busy till help arrived. But, sadly, that someone didn't show any pity, mercy, or compassion." He said, before looking out the cockpit window, "And right now, that same person who did it, is the same one that your future kid is fighting with right now...and she has every intention of showing Cinder Fall the same thing she gave her mother. Times ten."

* * *

Cinder slammed into the trunk of a tree back first, her aura luckily protecting her from getting too much damage. However the blow did daze her as she shook her head to get rid of the stars she was seeing.

A familiar shout garnered her attention as Dorée had jumped toward her, sword raised in a stabbing motion. Eyes still burning bright with fire.

Cinder's eyes widened before she managed to roll away before the tip of the sword impaled into the tree. Doré turned to her, her eyes holding hate, and annoyance all rolled into one.

She then ripped the blade out of the tree, as she continued her attack on Cinder, who had formed her dual glass swords, and engaged in a vicious duel.

Cinder attacked with one her glass blades, while Dorée blocked the attack with her shield, leaving her defense open to Cinder's other blade, which the girl then blocked with her sword.

The two glared at each other while deadlocked.

However, before the armored huntress could press on, she was blindsided as a black blur slammed into her, breaking the deadlock and making Cinder stagger back, before she looked and saw that it was a Beowolf Alpha that had appeared, as it towered over the girl, fang filled maw opened wide as it attempted to bite the girl's head off, who, while grunting in effort, had both her hands on the top and lower jaw of the beast as she held the monster's teeth from taking a bite out of her.

Soon, a pack of Beowolf minors arrived, as they surrounded the alpha and the interloper.

She then heard a familiar clicking sound, and saw one of those Grimm, the ones that she used to keep an eye on her enemies and allies, as well communicate with her.

 _"Cinder...,"_ she flinched as she heard her voice, " _Return to the castle_ ,"

Cinder's amber eyes widen in shock.

"What? But I can do this! I haven't failed yet!" she said, hoping to assure her mistress. He could do it. She CAN do it!

" _No!_ " Salem's voice shouted in authority, making her wince " _You must return at once! Ozpin and his people have been made aware of your presence, and they are coming toward you right now. The operation has been compromised_ ,"

Cinder could only gape at that.

 _"Now, return to the castle, so that we can reassess the situation_ ," Salem said calmly after that, and Cinder could only grit her teeth in anger and she turned to the girl who was still pinned under the Alpha Beowolf. She then heard Salem speak again, as if understanding her anger, " _Don't worry, dear child. You will get another chance. But for now, return home_ ,"

Cinder didn't say anything, but reluctantly nodded. She knew it was pointless to argue with her mistress.

With that, she proceeded to head for the ruins where she would meet up with Adam and Emerald...and also find a way to retrieve Mercury later on.

With Dorée, she cursed as she attempted to push the damn beast on top of her off, while catching a glimpse of Cinder leaving the area.

When the werewolf Grimm slammed into her, she lost her grip on her sword and shield, and was now using both hands to keep the Beowolf Alpha's maw from chomping her head off.

However, that didn't mean she was helpless as she slammed her heel on the ground, and a four inch blade extended from the sole of her armored boot.

The Alpha didn't notice it until it then felt the blade began to slam into it's belly, as Doré kicked her foot forward, and stab the wolf like Grimm repeatedly. Said beat gave a howl of pain, before one final kick forced it to jump off and away from the girl, who sprung back on her feet.

She immediately looked for her weapons, spotting her sword not too far away, which she used her semblance to quickly bring it back to her. She then looked for her shield, but once she spotted, she growled once she saw it being pinned by one of the surrounding Beowolves.

" _ **Stupid girl!**_ " the dark voice snarled again, as the pain in her skull increased " _ **You're more worried about your damn shield while that slut is getting away!?**_ "

' _Shut up, damn you!_ ' Doré snapped back, ' _I don't need your input, so butt out!_ '

" _ **Ha! Don't make me laugh, you little twit!**_ " the voice said again, just as the Alpha roared which was the signal for the other Beowolves of the pack to begin attacking her.

" _ **You forget what she did to your parents through the memories that you inherited from them**_." It continued as Dorée decapitated one of the Grimm, before dodging a swipe from another before slicing it's arm off.

 _ **"You saw what she did to your mother! Shooting her in the ankle and then shooting her in the heart just and burning her to dust just for the hell of it! Then, she captured your father after wounding him at Haven! How she watched with sick glee as he was being tortured by her mistress, before deciding she was bored with him once his spirit finally crumbled, and then burned him alive after crucifying him!"**_

Dorée winced internally at that. While all the time the voice was talking, and while she was killing the attacking Grimm, she was remembering the memories she inherited, as a side-effect of the cloning process. She remembered seeing Cinder's face being blurred, but the only thing she could see, were those damn burning Amber eyes, mocking her, toying with her.

" _ **All it took was your so-called mentor to clarify it was actually her that killed them...and it let me out to have some fun!**_ ,"

' _SHUT UP!_ '

She blocked another swipe from a Beowolf just as another was charging at her from behind, but she then flicked her right wrist as a hidden blade extended from under her gauntlet, and then jabbed it into the eye of the Grimm she was blocking, forcing it to back off while screeching in pain and anger at the loss of it's eye. She then focused on the one coming from behind, shifting her sword into a reverse grip and stabbing backward.

The sound of the blade impaling flesh, and the dying gags of the beast, confirmed she hit true.

" _ **Oh...why should I**_?" the voice mocked with a fake hurt tone as Dorée's attacks were getting more vicious, as the rage continued to mount, " _ **You're more focused when you're angry...more cunning...more lethal...it was what Merlot intended after all,**_ "

The blonde felt her blood boil at the mention of that old man's name, the one who gave her the voice in her head behind the back of her caretaker.

" _ **Oh, methinks I struck a nerve**_ ," the voice taunted again, with Doré reacting accordingly, as she fought more and more like a cornered animal. " _ **Tell me, when you found out that your caretaker was actually Cinder Fall, how did it feel when you drove your hand through her stomach and watched as she choked on her blood?**_ "

"Shut up..." she verbally growled this time, just as she decapitated three more Beowolves in a row, her eyes changing colors between her normal green to red and yellow in rapid succession, "...just shut up!"

However, the Beowolves were soon reinforced by other Grimm besides themselves, such as Ursas, Creepers, and surprisingly a Beringal.

The Gorilla type Grimm roared as it beated it's chest in challenge and then charged toward the girl.

But the voice had no intention of stopping.

" _ **Oh, and later finding out that the soul of your dear, precious, mother was trapped inside her?**_ " It continued, and Dorée felt herself grow cold at that, as her hands shook, " _ **Oh I can still remember the look on your face! It was so hilarious! The shock! The horror! The disbelief! Oh it was beautiful! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**_ "

Tears leaked from her eyes, remembering that moment. It still left a deep wound in her heart, one that would never heal.

The Beringal raised it's fist as it jumped into the air.

But despite the tears, the clone was still focusing on the fight as the Gorilla Grimm fell toward her, ready to deliver the punch.

Dorée only sidestepped to the side just as the fist landed, causing some dust and dust to go flying, before she spun around, raised her blade, and drove the weapon into the beast of darkness through the back of it's skull and out it's mouth.

The Grimm slumped to the ground, and began to dissipate, before she then heard the voice sigh in a bored tone.

" _ **Of course, then came the mushy stuff. How dear Pyrrha in her second final moments said that despite that you were a clone, you were still her daughter, and that she loved you before finally kicking the bucket. It'd be funny if it weren't so pathetic..."**_

Dorée's trembling began to get worse, as she gritted her teeth. She had stopped killing the growing horde, which had suddenly stopped it's attack.

With the said Grimm, their instincts were telling them that something was wrong with the human. Her energy was somehow changing, becoming more like one of them, but still had aura like that of the other humans who hunted them.

This filled them with confusion and...fear?

" _ **Well, what the heck!? I'll laugh again, anyway!**_ "

The insane laughter echoed in her mind...and then something snapped.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile**_

 _ **Eight Minutes Earlier**_

* * *

The Bullhead landed not far from the crashed Medical Ship, as the side doors opened and Canus, along with Teams JNPR and RWBY disembarked and immediately headed straight for the crashed ship.

"Whoa!" Yang exclaimed, while whistling in awe at the damage. She was not the only one who felt that way, "Girl tore this ship apart,"

Canus looked at the girl, "If you think this is impressive, you should see what she can do to a Goliath Herd...in about one minute," he said, making everyone gape.

"She...she killed a whole Goliath Herd in one minute!?," Weiss said in shock, and Canus nodded.

"Yeah...though the way in which she did it...was not pretty." He said, making Pyrrha and Jaune feel a cold feeling down their spines.

"W...What did she do?" Jaune asked, as Canus stopped, making the hunters-in-training stop as well.

"Let me you ask you something." he said and looked at the kids, "What do you kids remember about a man named Merlot?"

Team RWBY and Team JNPR's eyes widen at that name, especially RWBY's.

"Wait...Merlot?" Blake answered, "As in Dr. Merlot? What does he got to do with..."

"He was the one who created Dorée in the first place," Canus answered before the cat Faunus could finish her question.

His answer had the desired affect as everyone looked at him in shock.

"Wait, WHAT!?" they all shouted, but before Canus could answer, they heard a banging from inside the ship.

"What the?" Yang said in confusion, the shocking revelation momentarily forgotten, as she walked over to the closed and, with her strength, pried the closed door open. The moment she saw what, or rather who, was inside, she grinned wickedly.

"Oh well, well, well, who do we have here?" she said in an all-too-sweet of a voice, as she spotted none other than Roman Torchwick's little pet, the said ice cream haired girl currently bound with pieces of metal, with two around her torso, and two around her legs. She also had a gag in her mouth to keep her from talking...of course that was probably done out of a force of habit.

Neo looked up, and her eyes widened with horror, seeing it wasn't the rescue she was hoping for.

"Come here you little...!" Yang said as she walked in, reached down and grabbed Neo before dragging her out, "Look what we got!"

Everyone looked at the metal bound mute, as RWBY blinked in familiarity.

"Hey, isn't that the girl who beat you up on the train?" Weiss asked, causing Yang's left eye to twitch angrily.

"Not. My. Fault!" she growled out, still sore over that day.

"We don't have time for any arguing!" Canus ordered, his voice stern and urgent as he walked over and pulled Neo from Yang's grasp, pulled the gag out of her mouth. He then looked to Pyrrha and motioned for her to use her semblance to remove the metal bindings, which Pyrrha did. Canus then looked Neo in the eye, causing the girl to gulp.

"Since you can't talk, you can use hand signs to tell me what I want to know," the man said, before his eyes narrowed, "The girl who left you here, which way did she go?"

Neo was hesitant for a moment, as she honestly didn't have a clue. She was about to gesture just that, before something got their attention.

BOOOOM!

The sudden loud noise of an explosion and the blast of wind caught them off guard, before they snapped to the source, as they all had a shock expression as a pillar of red flame went into the sky. Canus' expression was more horrified than anything as he looked at the pillar.

"Oh, fuck me,"

* * *

 _ **Emerald Forest Ruins**_

 _ **2 Minutes Earlier**_

* * *

The Bullhead landed at the ruins which were ironically, the same location where Team RWBY and Team JNPR first worked together to defeat two massive Grimm, and which allowed them to pass initiation, and enter Beacon Academy.

The side doors opened, revealing Emerald, along with Adam Taurus of the White Fang, along with a squad of his WF soldiers.

The illusionist had met with the Bull Faunus back at the Coliseum, and told him what happened, which the said Radicalist replied that he already knew since the whole saw the whole thing on their CCT screens and scrolls. Emerald then told them where Cinder wanted them to pick her up, and that the plan was compromised.

That of course made the Terrorist prick angry, but he waited for so long for an opportunity to get back at humanity, so he'll just have to wait a little longer for revenge.

They didn't have to wait long as Cinder came out of the forest, nursing her arm which had a cut from when that crazy huntress slashed her. Emerald immediately jumped out to help her, and ran to the Fallen Maiden.

"Cinder! Are you alright!?" Emerald said worriedly, before looking up in fear behind the amber eyed woman, "Where's...?"

"Don't worry, the Grimm have her distracted," Cinder said confidently, "Right now, let's get out of here. Salem's calling us back,"

Emerald's eyes widen at the mention of the said Queen of Grimm, and knew that when Salem called them back, she expected them to come straight to her. With that thought in mind, she and Cinder made their way to the waiting dust transport.

"I hope she's in a merciful mood when we get back," Emerald said, while Cinder just scoffed.

"Since when is she in a merciful mood?" she asked rhetorically, and Emerald knew she was right.

But just as they were about a few feet away from the Bullhead, a sudden explosion got their attention making them turn back toward the forest and seeing the red fire pillar shoot into the sky, causing the eyes of the two women and the white fang widen in shock.

"W...what is that?" Emerald asked, as a cold dread ran down her spine. She was not the only one, as Cinder also looked at the spectacle in front of her. She only feared one person, and that was her mistress...but this?

She had no words to describe it.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile.**_

 _ **Salem's Castle**_

* * *

The Grimm Queen herself jolted at the unexpected explosion of power. She looked in the direction it came from, and immediately discerned two things about it. The amount of rage and sorrow it exhumed.

Such strong negative emotions, no doubt her children will be drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Though, she felt through her connection to her children near the source, something she didn't expect...they were afraid.

And something that made her children afraid, was something that she wanted on her side...badly.

She then turned toward one her Overseers, the same Grimm she used in order to talk to Cinder, and ordered her to retreat.

"Hazel...I have a mission for you,"

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112: ...Uh-oh.** **Doré has finally snapped, and it garnered some VERY unwanted attention. What will happen? Well, you'll just have to wait till next chapter.**_

 _ **Also, to those who will no doubt criticize my making the Grimm DNA in her veins more sentient and being a separate entity...could you have done or thought up anything better to make her snap?**_

 _ **Well, until the next time my friends. Later!**_


	6. Chapter 5: Tick Tock

_**Patriot-112: Wow, I actually got four reviews in that last chapter! Special thanks to those who left one, and hope more will come after this chapter.**_

 _ **Anywho, let us continue on!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: You know the drill, RWBY doesn't belong to me, end of story.**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter Five:**_

 _ **Tick Tock**_

* * *

Crimson yellow eyes darted back and forth, mouth formed in a vicious snarl, back hunched, as the girl, now possessed by her rage continued her rampage, slaughtering all the Grimm in her sight.

Thus, que a Creeper slamming into a tree, it's head missing as it began dissipating into smoke. The same fate followed the other Grimm, as they attempted...and failed to kill the girl, who was becoming more and more Grimm by the second.

" _ **Yes! This is what I've been waiting for!**_ " the voice shouted in glee, as a Beowolf's head was ripped violently off it's shoulders, " _ **That's it! Rip them apart!**_ "

A Nevermore fell from the sky, a spike of iron, formed from the metal in the ground, right in the middle of it's forehead.

A King Taijitu was sliced in half, separating it's two heads, before it was quickly torn to pieces.

Another Beowolf had both of it's arms ripped off, before they were used as clubs to beat the Grimm to death.

These were one of the many types of deaths that the now rage drunk, Grimm possessed, Dorée ***** Arkos inflicted on the horde of Grimm.

Her features had also changed, with her fair pale skin now paler than bone, dark circles under her Grimm-like eyes, her now loosened hair that was now cascading down to her mid back, was now colored a bone white, though the red streaks still remained, which made her look all the more terrifying.

And finally, there were the red markings that adorned her face just like all other Grimm, with the red eye cartouche displayed on her forehead.

All the while, the inner voice in her head continued to laugh in sadistic joy. Encouraging her rage even more.

" _ **Yes! That's a good girl! Keep it up, and soon you will be too deep in your rage...** ,_" Dorée punched an Ursa through the mouth and out the back of it's throat, as the voice continued though more softly, ' _ **...and then**_ **I** _ **will be free to take your body for my myself...and have**_ **all** _**the fun I want, kukukukuku**_ ,'

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile**_

* * *

The column of red fire was seen by almost everyone in Vale, garnering awe and fear among everyone of the kingdom's citizens. It also caused a large number of Grimm, including Nevermores, Griffons, Goliaths, every species, to be attracted to it, due to the vast amount of rage they were sensing. There were a large amount which went to the city, but the bulk of the invading Grimm horde went toward the source of the rage.

"Not good! Definitely NOT good!" Canus kept shouting as he ran through the woods toward where the pillar of fire came from. All the while, Teams JNPR and RWBY were right behind, just managing to keep up with the man.

"You been saying for the past few minutes!" Weiss shouted, before looking up at the sky as flying Grimm soared over, "We can literally see that!"

"It's not the Grimm I'm completely worried about, cakeeater!" Canus shouted, causing Weiss to growl and grasp the handle of Myrtenaster. Blake however, stopped her before asking Canus the question everyone wanted answered.

"What do you mean!?" she said, "What's worse than... _this_!?"

"Considering that we're about to have a very bad case of Grimm Possession, and that the said person we're now looking for who has the power to literally demolish an entire kingdom is a victim of it, that's what's not good!" Canus shouted in reply, causing the others to look at him, greatly disturbed at the words.

"What do you mean by 'Grimm Possession'?" Ren inquired, "I never heard of it!"

"That's because it won't show up until AFTER Dorée was born!" He said, "And you can thank Dr. Merlot for that."

Pyrrha and Jaune both felt dread at those words.

"W-What did he do?" was the champion's question, while Canus was hesitant to answer. But, knowing they will find out anyway, he answered them.

"I honestly can't explain the scientific mumbo jumbo...but he somehow grafted the DNA of Geist and Alpha Beowolf Grimm into her genetic structure," he said, making everyone pale, "Of course, from what I learned, the strands are few, not enough to cause permanent physical changes, but once she gets angry enough, the changes are...frightening to say the least."

The more that Canus spoke, the more and more the fear the two teams had began to feel grow stronger. Especially the case with Jaune and Pyrrha, but their fear was more of a different sort.

"Of course, this change only happens when her anger is driven over the edge," Canus continued, "But once it is... No one, and nothing can stop her. She acts more like a feral beast than a well-trained warrior, and will target anyone who will dare stand in her way. Of course, that's just the Beowolf genes."

Everyone looked at him, continuing to run towards the sounds of explosions and roars of Grimm.

"According to what Dr. Merlot said, once the Geist in her kicks in the door, it will immediately take over her, controlling both her mind and body, make her do things that she wouldn't want to do... And let's just say this Geist has a VERY sadistic way of killing people."

Everyone couldn't help the shiver that went down their spines. All of them thankful that Dorée didn't lose her shit back at the coliseum.

"Of course, the first time it happened, was she found out that her mentor was one who killed her parents...you two," Canus announced, catching the two off-guard. "And before you ask how I know, I found her after she finished her rampage. She had just killed everyone at the compound, where she was raised and trained, in order to fulfil her mission."

He then sighed sadly, "She only regained her senses after she killed her mentor... And she learned something else that clearly broke her, as she was actually holding her in her arms...crying,"

That caused Pyrrha to blink in wonder. Why, after everything that Cinder had done, that Dorée would actually mourn her loss?

"It wasn't until four months later, just before she left through the time machine, that she told me-...," he then stopped suddenly as did the others who looked at him.

"What? What is is it?" Ruby said as she got Crescent Rose ready, along with everyone else readying their respective weapons.

"Quiet..." Canus whispered as he stood stock still. It a few minutes before his eyes widened in alarm.

"SCATTER!"

The ground burst apart, forcing the Huntsman and hunters-in-training to jump away. As they landed away from the explosion of dirt and dust, they looked and saw that it was a King Taijitu.

"Well that's just perfect," Canus said sarcastically, before suddenly as the rest of the two headed snake Grimm came out of the hole, more Grimm appeared, mostly Creepers and Boarbatusks, along with a few Beowolves, and an Ursa Alpha, causing him to groan angrily, "Craaaaaaaaap! We don't have time for this bullshit!"

The King Taijitu gave a hiss-like roar as the other Grimm began their attack.

* * *

 _ **With Cinder**_

* * *

"We have to leave," said Cinder, a hint of urgency in her voice, and Emerald didn't argue with that, as they continued their way toward the Bullhead, where Adam and the White Fang he brought with him were waiting.

"Hurry up!" the Bull Faunus shouted, "I don't want to be around when whatever caused _that_ shows up!"

"We're coming! Just hold on for a little-!" Emerald was cut off, when suddenly they heard the trumpeting sound of a Goliath as it slammed into the ground, not too far from them catching them off-guard. "WHOA!"

The two then turned around and saw none other than the girl who had single handedly ruined their plan. Only...she looked radically different.

The flaming eyes of the Fall Maiden were still alight, but it was the Grimm-like physical changes that made them gape in shock and horror.

"W...What the hell?" Emerald said in absolute fear as she looked at the girl. "She looks like...,"

Cinder couldn't believe it as she stared at the girl in front of her. Her changes almost match Salem's, but the eyes were more like the other Grimm, rage filled and wild.

The Grimmified girl then looked at them, before snarling, showing a pair of fangs that looked ready to bite into something.

"We need to go...," Cinder said, before turning and looking at Emerald who was still shocked frozen with fear, causing the Fallen Maiden to shout in urgency, "...NOW EMERALD!"

That snapped the illusionist out of her shocked state and they proceeded to quickly head toward the Bullhead.

The Grimm-possessed Dorée however, wasn't going to let that happen and immediately sprinted after them. The surrounding area being nothing but a blur, as she zeroed in on on her target.

As she was running toward them, her over-powered semblance began to draw all the metal in the ground to her hands, forming one clawed gauntlet in each one.

The two women turned and saw the enraged huntress was just now upon them. Left clawed hand raised, and ready to slice them in two.

The claws came down, only for a red katana blade to stop their descent.

"So _this_ is what's been giving you trouble!?" Adam shouted questioningly as he looked at the girl in front of him who now looked more Grimm than human. "How did you not see this!? You said you had everything under control!"

Cinder didn't say anything at first, having just nearly escaped death a THIRD time. She then shook her head, and looked at the Bull Faunus who was now deadlocked with Dorée as she snarled at the White Fang Commander.

"Just keep her busy!" Cinder shouted, "Let's go, Emerald!"

Emerald snapped to it, and continued to help Cinder toward the Bullhead.

"Oh sure, leave _me_ to deal with it!" Adam shouted sarcastically, and then looked into the Grimm eyes of the huntress, "I have to admit, you certainly made a mess of things! Though with the amount of Grimm you inadvertently brought in, I think it's not a total loss! We just need to improvise!"

They broke the deadlock when Adam raised the lever action rifle at her, and squeezed the trigger, causing Dorée to dodge or be shot in the face.

She then jumped away from the Faunus Swordsman, crouching down, like a beast. Adam couldn't help but see the irony in the way the girl was acting.

"And Humans have the gall to call _us_ animals," he said, as he sheathed his sword and assumed his Iaido stance.

With Cinder and Emerald, they were just about to jump on the Bullhead, when an idea hit Cinder, as she remembered what Dorée told her.

"Emerald, wait!" she said, causing the illusionist to stop and look at her, "I have an idea...,"

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile, Back with Canus, RWBY, and JNPR**_

* * *

Another Creeper fell to the ground, the familiar javelin form of Milo, pierced in it's side, before it stopped moving altogether. The weapon's owner immediately pulled it out, as the Grimm disappeared.

' _We have to get moving_!' Pyrrha thought as she looked around as her team, along with Team RWBY and Canus fought the attacking Grimm, Canus showing his abilities, while using two six cylinder antiquated revolvers ******...which were anything but, as the power behind the pistols, along with the dust rounds used was any indication.

Then of course, there is the knife he used for fighting any Grimm in close quarters. The blade itself was 20 inches, and had a clip-point, while also having a D-shaped guard, connecting to the pommel*. And Canus showed he was well adept at using both.

However, Pyrrha couldn't think on that at the moment. Her main priority was getting to Dorée.

She didn't know why, something was telling her to get to the girl, who Canus, and the scroll that they recovered said, was their daughter.

Her's, and Jaune's.

And now, these feelings she was now getting, were telling the Mistralian to get to her, before it was too late.

She turned to Jaune as he struggled with a Beowolf, before she threw her shield and it smacked the side of the wolf Grimm's face, forcing it off Jaune, which gave the young Arc didn't hesitate to capitalize on, and thrust his family sword into the said Grimm's chest, killing it.

"Thanks, Pyrrha," Jaune said, a smile on his face as he ran toward his partner.

Despite the situation, Pyrrha couldn't help but smile back and return the nod, before she frowned before joining her partner as he got back up.

"Jaune, we need to get moving," she said, "I don't know why...but I get the feeling that if we don't get to Dorée soon...I...I'm afraid something terrible will happen,"

"I'm with you on that Pyrrha, but right now, I don't think the Grimm are gonna let that happen," Jaune said, as more Grimm showed up, "We need some serious help, right now!"

Just as he said that, an Ursa launched itself at the pair, before something unexpected happened...

BOOOM!

Everyone, and everygrimm, turned to the source of the earth shattering sound. What they saw, brought a smile to Ruby's face.

"Penny!" the red hooded girl shouted.

"Salutations, friends!" the... _special_ girl shouted in greeting while everyone looked at her. As for the Ursa that tried to attack Jaune and Pyrrha...well...it's currently face first under the feet of said special girl.

"Uh, did she just...fall from the sky?" Blake said in bewilderment.

Penny then summoned her blades as she proceeded to slice apart any Grimm in her way, the said creatures of darkness turning their attention to her as the bigger threat.

Seeing this, Canus turned toward Pyrrha and Jaune.

"Now's your chance! Get going!" he shouted, causing the two blink, before they turned and ran in the direction of where Dorée was.

"Are you sure that was a good idea!?" Ren shouted as he decapitated a Creeper with his Stormflowers' blades, "Sending them ahead, on their own!"

Canus didn't say anything at first, as he processed the young ninja's words. He then heard a caw and looked up spotting a familiar raven flying overhead and following the two young teens. His eyes narrowed.

"They'll be alright...," he said, though was mostly unsure, "...I hope,"

* * *

" _ **RAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!**_ "

The furious roar echoed through the ruins, as Dorée slashed at Adam, who for the first time in his life was actually being driven on the defensive. The duel had been going for only a few minutes, and Adam was showing the signs of his battle, his jacket, was ripped in some places, with the most severe being a sleeve ripped off.

Along with that, were the minor injuries which were being healed by his aura, along with three scratch marks on the right side of his face from the iron clad claws, that still stung like a bitch.

Dorée, however, was not unscathed either, if the bleeding cuts on her face, left shoulder, and right leg were anything to go by. But they were quickly healed by her aura. Her armor however, didn't have such a luxury, as small cracks appeared in her breastplate, a piece of one her cuisse was hanging loose, and one the greaves on her boots was now gone and forgotten somewhere in another part of the ruins.

Adam cursed, as the Grimm possessed girl swiped at him again, managed to nick his mask.

However, at the waiting Bullhead, Cinder was relaying her plan to Cinder.

"Wait...you're telling me she's related to Pyrrha Nikos, somehow!?" the mint-haired thief said in shock, while Cinder nodded.

"She sounded very protective of her," Cinder said, "And not to mention the resemblance, they have the same semblance, face, and eyes."

The Fallen Maiden then smirk, "Which is what we'll use to our advantage," she said, and Emerald blinked before her eyes widened in understanding, and she turned back to the duel between Adam and Dorée.

"You really think it will work?" she said, before Cinder gave her the look.

"It has to work!" she said, "And hopefully the shock will be enough to force her to stop, and leave her vulnerable,"

Though Emerald wanted to argue and just wanted to get as far as hell away from the rage drunk as possible, she knew Cinder was adamant, and could probably kill with with her bow and arrow if she tried to head to the still waiting Bullhead.

"Alright, let's just hope this plan works...and not get killed in the process,"

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile...again.**_

* * *

Both Jaune and Pyrrha were both running through the forest toward their destination, both of them desperate to get answers. They eventually entered a clearing before stopping as their eyes widened.

"Whoa...," gasped the Arc, as they looked at the destroyed trees, with a few burning, along with the _numerous_ disintegrating bodies of Grimm, many, or all, of them dismembered. "...I know Grimm are suppose to be our sworn enemy but _this_ does not look good!"

Pyrrha didn't say anything as she looked at the devastation all around her.

 _'This...this isn't right,'_ she thought as the bodies of the Grimm had finished dissipating, _'A huntress...shouldn't act like this,'_

A glint of light caught her eye, before she turned and saw the same shield, she saw Dorée carried. She then sprinted toward the shield, Jaune right behind her, before they stopped, and the Mistralian knelt down and picked up the shield.

She looked at the symbol on the face, and couldn't help but frown in worry.

"We have to stop her," she suddenly spoke up, prompting Jaune to blink, "Clone or not, I refuse to let her suffer like this."

She then turned to her Partner who became shocked, as he saw tears leaking from her eyes.

"Jaune...I understand you probably have second thoughts about this...but...I just can't...," she said, and bowed her head, hiding her eyes in shadow, "I just can't bear to watch and let her possibly get killed. If...if you want-,"

"No," Jaune said, cutting her off, prompting her to lift her head and blink in surprise, as she looked at the determined face of her partner. "I'm not letting you do this alone, Pyrrha. Yeah it's all crazy from what we learned...from the scroll, from Canus, it's like something out of a Sci-Fi movie...but, one thing is for sure, she might've born a different way from other people...but, from what you told me, and what we saw, she didn't want to hurt us, and I have a feeling she actually wanted to accepted...just like how I wanted to be accepted as a hero, and you wanted to accepted as a normal person."

He then took a deep breath before continuing.

"So, whatever happens. We're doing this together," he said with resolve, which prompted Pyrrha to blush, before smiling.

"Jaune...thank you," she said, before Jaune lowered his hand to her, which she grabbed and he hoisted her back up.

"What are partners and best friends for?" he said, smiling that adorkable smile she loved so much.

 _'I really hope it can become more than that,'_ she thought, and they proceeded to begin leaving the clearing, before Jaune stopped, prompting Pyrrha to do so as well.

"Jaune?" she said, as he watched Jaune walk over to a group of fallen trees, before kneeling down, and reaching his hand into a gap. When he pulled it, it was grasping something that they both knew well...

...it was Dorée's sword.

Jaune looked at Pyrrha and the two immediately put it together.

"We better move fast," he said, and the champion nodded, as she placed the shield on her arm, surprised that it actually felt right, while Jaune carried the sword, and thus continued their search. Following the trail of destruction that was left in the wake of Dorée's rampage.

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112:**_ _ **And another done! Man, and I thought the last one was taxing. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, after a damn long wait. Don't expect others to pop in like popcorn, I have other projects aside from this that need my attention. Until then I hope you enjoyed, but before I go...**_

 _ ***: Slight editing to the name, after I read a review on another fic, that** **Doré is a more masculine version to the french word, and that** **Dorée is the true feminine version...whoops. Time for a lot of editing.**_

 _ ****: Don't even give me shit. I saw the Blake Trailer, and the White Fang grunt had a six shooter revolver. And on a side note, yes, I gave him a Bowie Knife...Damn thing is big for a knife!**_

 _ **Well, until next time. Later!**_


	7. Chapter 6: Here comes the Devil

_**Patriot-112: Back again, and with a new chapter! And we're coming up on the more...interesting parts. Some of you are gonna get on my case about happens in this chapter, but trust me, it will be worth it.**_

 _ **Also, big thank you to noble4259 for Beta reading.**_

 _ **Now then, on with the fic.**_

 _ **Warning: Please know that things will happen in this chapter that will make you all act like complete dicks. As a word to you all, just in case, remember that in a rage, the mind of even the most experienced combatant, will suffer from tunnel vision.**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 6:**_

 _ **Here comes the Devil**_

* * *

Another Beowolf fell to the ground, a familiar red scythe in it's torso. It attempted to continue fighting against the one who impaled it, before the sound of a gunshot put an end to that idea.

Ruby sighed as the Grimm dissipated, she looked as she watched as the others dealt with the last of the group of Grimm that attacked them. With Penny's help of course.

"Ruby! Are you alright?" the android girl said, concerned for her friend. Ruby gave a smile at that.

"Yeah," she said, before embracing the Atlas robot, "Thanks for showing up Penny,"

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner," she said, "I was having maintenance done when I heard the news,"

"It's okay, better late than never," Ruby said, making the android smile again.

The sound of engines got their attention as two Atlesian gunships appeared, before landing in front of them, and the rear hatches opened as Ozpin, Goodwitch, Ironwood, Qrow, as well as SSSN and CVFY hurriedly stepped out.

Qrow gave a mental sigh of relief seeing both of his nieces unscathed.

Ozpin was the first to speak up.

"Everyone, alright?" he said, and everyone nodded, though Nora, being the more enthusiastic one, shouted "A-Okay!" prompting some to sweatdrop.

"Yeah, we're alright for now Oz," Canus said, "But if we don't haul ass, I'm not sure these kids will make it out of this unscathed,"

The adults looked at Canus, both of them frowning in concern.

"What do you mean, Canus?" Ozpin questioned.

"Remember Drache?" Canus said, making the headmaster's eyes widen in horror, confusing the students, Ironwood, Glynda, and surprisingly, even Qrow. "Well, it's about to happen again, and that girl is the unlucky and unwilling participant, and you can thank Dr 'Asshole' Merlot for that."

"Wait, Merlot!?" James said in shock, "He's a part of this!?"

"He will be, you can thank my Semblance for that," Canus said, while Ozpin now looked more horrified than ever, remembering a certain someone who suffered the same fate, though more naturally than this current case. The other adults both had dire looks on their faces, if Merlot was involved in this, it could NOT be good.

The Headmaster of Beacon then noticed that two students were missing, causing the old man to blink.

"Canus, where are Miss Nikos and Mister Arc?" he said, and Canus sighed irritably.

"I sent them on ahead the moment the robot showed up," he said, prompting everyone to blink in confusion, except Ruby and Penny who looked on surprised that he knew. However, Ozpin, and the others both gave shocked looks.

"You did WHAT!?" shouted Glynda, "And alone!?"

"Not exactly," said Canus, before turning to Qrow, "They got some...questionable help,"

Qrow blinked before putting it together, as his eyes narrowed, "Wait, Raven's here!?" he said, making Yang's eyes widen in shock at her mother's name, and Canus nodded.

"Yeah, though it took a little bit of convincing on my part," he said, while Qrow looked at him disapprovingly.

"You saying you brought her!?" Qrow grounded out.

"Hey! Argue about it with me all you want, but we need her!" Canus shouted, "If all else fails, Raven's the only one who, and I feel bad to say this, who can take Dorée down...even if it means killing her,"

Now everyone looked at him in horror.

"K...Kill her?" Ruby said, clearly disturbed. Canus sighed sadly at his.

"I'm sorry Little Red...but the truth is, Dorée barely managed to break out of her berserker stage back in her timeline, before her inner Geist Grimm could fully take her over," he said, "So, I went to see your sister's mom and told her about Dorée and what she was capable of, and how much danger it could be to anyone, even her and the tribe your uncle and step mother were raised by."

Qrow grew angrier at that.

"YOU TOLD HER _THAT_!?" he shouted as he grabbed the grey-cloaked man by the front, "ARE YOU INSANE!? DO YOU HAVE _ANY_ IDEA WHAT MY SISTER IS LIKE WHEN IT COMES TO THE TRIBE'S SAFETY!?"

"I told her only to do it only as a last resort-!" Canus retorted, only for a fist to hit across the face.

"You dumb ass! My sister is ruthless when it comes to threats towards the Tribe!" Qrow shouted, "Inner Grimm or whatever it is you're talking about aside, she's always deals with threats with thorough, precise, and brutal efficiency!"

Canus spat out a wad of blood as he looked back at Qrow.

"Which is why we need to get moving, NOW!" he said, and turned in the direction where Pyrrha and Jaune went, "Unless of course, you tend to stick around and let Raven do it,"

Qrow growled, wanting to beat the man in front of him black and blue, but knew there were other things to worry about.

"Fine, but once we're sure the kid is safe, you and I are gonna have a serious discussion. Even if I have Jimbo here, put you in a cell so you won't get away...and shoot you in the kneecaps just in case," Qrow stated, while Canus just shrugged.

"If it makes you happy," he said, "Shall we then?"

Canus then proceeded to ran off, followed closely by Ren and Nora, in order to help their teammates, soon followed by Team SSSN and CVFY.

Qrow could only sigh in irritation, but before he and the adults could go and follow, Ruby grabbed him by the arm.

"Uncle Qrow...Yang's mom...what you and Canus said...Sh-she wouldn't...would she?" the red hooded huntress in training said fearfully. Hoping the answer wasn't what she feared. Yang and the rest of the team stayed behind to listen in, the former also hoping that her mother isn't really a murderer.

Qrow however, only gave a sad look before speaking.

"Unfortunately kiddo...it's all true," Qrow said, "Raven has always been ruthless when it concerns things like the Tribe we grew up in. If she's extremely overprotective of one thing, it's them...however, in her own skewed survival of the fittest way, she believes that the best way to deal with any threat, big or small,.."

* * *

 _"...is to utterly annihilate them,"_

Adam slammed against the stone wall of one of the ruined buildings. Dorée, still in her feral state, not that far behind as she grabbed the Bull Faunus by the neck and slammed him against the wall, before she began to pummel his face...breaking his signature mask in the process, and revealing the rest of the face underneath, and the red eyes that had been hidden.

But that didn't stop her as she gave five more hits, before kicking him upside the head and send him flying across the courtyard, his body bouncing a few times off the ground, before he came to a stop, his aura crackling, showing he was almost out. He shakily stood on his legs using Wilt to support himself, as he glared at the girl with defiance.

"I have to admit...this is the first time...anyone, and I mean anyone who has run me ragged like this...not even Blake," he said in between taking in breaths, before smirking a bit, "However, I got a feeling that is because only of your current look..."

He looked her up and down, especially the Grimm-like eyes.

"...and the bloodlust I see in your eyes. You're acting no more than a savage beast,"

Dorée only growled as she began stalking toward him, like a predator ready to pounce.

Adam readied his sword as he prepared to fight her again. That was the signal for Dorée to leap into action and begin charging right toward the Bull Faunus, her iron claws ready to cleave the terrorist limb from.

She then leaped into the air, with one clawed hand behind as she dropped down, the world seemed to go in slow motion. The girl's mind so focused on killing the one in her way.

Only just a few feet away...then...

SHLINK!

A spray of blood hit Dorée in the face, as Doree's eyes still retained their red shade, but the splatter made her blink, before she shook her head, grasping her head in pain as her sanity was coming back to her...

"Grrrr...gah! D-Damn it...wha-,"

"D-*cough, cough!*...D-Dorée...,"

Dorée's Grimm eyes snapped open at the familiar voice, looking ahead of her, before they widened in horror.

"...N-No...,"

In front of her, with her clawed hand in her chest, and out her back...was none other than Pyrrha Nikos...One of the two most important who she fought hard and suffered for. And now...it looked as if her labors were for not.

Pyrrha's face was that of shock, as blood dripped from her mouth, while her hands raised shakily toward her arm. Her mouth opened trying to say something, but all that came out was just a wet sickening cough, and a spray of blood.

"No. No, no, no, no no no nonononono NONONO NOOOO!" Dorée screamed as she reached her free arm to hold Pyrrha up. "Stay with me! Y-You're gonna be okay!"

Adam looked at the scene in front of him with...confusion. He looked at the girl who looked to be holding someone in her arms...but there was no one there.

"Don't say anything, Adam," a familiar voice quietly said and he turned and frowned as he saw Cinder and Emerald approach and saw the latter holding her head as if straining to concentrate. He immediately put it together, and looked back toward Dorée who by now had tears coming out of her eyes, and looking more frantic.

'Emerald used her semblance on her,' he thought, before smirking, 'Apparently, she made her think she killed someone she deeply cares about.'

He continued to watch, as Emerald spoke to Cinder.

"I can only keep this up for so long," she said with a strained voice, "It's taking all I have just to keep her in the illusion,"

Cinder only smiled wickedly as she looked at the now distraught girl who by now was kneeling on the ground, practically begging 'Pyrrha' not to go, and 'not again'.

"Just keep it up as long as you can Emerald," she said, wanting to savor each moment of the meddler's suffering, "When I give you the signal, deliver the coup de grace,"

Emerald nodded as she continued the illusion. She knew this was going to give her a major headache tomorrow.

With Dorée, said clone was desperately trying to save the red-haired champion. But she knew it was a lost cause. Even though she missed the heart, the damage was already done.

Blood was pooling around her, and the vast amount showed that Pyrrha won't survive.

"No...please...p-please don't go...," Dorée pleaded, as a familiar image replayed in her mind, "Please...not again...M...Mama...,"

The word she had wanted to say for so long were uttered softly, she doubted Pyrrha could hear them.

"...Please...you still need to tell Papa you...love him...he-he needs to know...you can't...die like this," she said, as her sobs continued to increase, "Please...please, stay with me,"

'Pyrrha' didn't say anything, but instead shakingly raised her hand to place it on Dorée's cheek, making the, still transformed, girl's eyes widen in shock.

She looked her mother in the eye, seeing the light fading before it suddenly blacked out and her hand fell limp to her side.

Dorée's mouth hung open in horror. It had happened again.

' _No...No, please Oum, no! Don't take her away! Please not again! PLEASE!_ ' she mentally begged as she tried to shake her awake. But it was no use. Then reality hit her.

' _I...I killed her...,_ ' she thought as she felt herself begin to crack, ' _I ... I did it again..._ "

The cracks of her psyche became more numerous until one final thought shattered it completely...

' _I killed my mother...,_ ' with that, her mind shattered as she collapsed to her knees, her eyes losing their focus, as the tears ran down. She now unaware of the world, not even noticing the Pyrrha she was holding disappear on her, as Cinder, still bruised and bloodied, approached.

She then knelt down as she picked up a pebble and threw it at the now catatonic girl, who didn't even react as it hit her in the shoulder, before waving a hand in front of her now blank eyes, which were still in their Grimm look. The Fallen Maiden smirked, before placing a hand under the girl's cheek and lifting it up to look at her.

"Well now," she started, as her eyes glowed, "I guess that part about killing me to prevent Nikos' death really will be in vain, now,"

She then stood and was preparing to use her bow, before stopping for a moment, before she smirked, and reached into her back pocket. She was fortunate Salem gave her another glove, in case that senile fool Ozpin had succeeded in transferring the Fall Maiden powers into a new host.

And now, it was going to fulfill its purpose.

"I will take that power you have, now," she said, placing the elbow-length glove on, "But take comfort, that I will use it in ways, you could NEVER imagine,"

She then raised her hand toward the girl's face, just as the Parasite in the glove began to appear on the palm...before a familiar shout sounded.

"Dorée!"

She jerked her head to the left and saw none other than Pyrrha Nikos, and that blundering fool Jaune Arc appear from the forest, with the former looking toward them with unhidden fear at what was about to happen.

Cinder's smirk only intensified.

"Congratulations, Invincible Girl!" She said to her, "You're about to watch as I claim her power for my myself! Don't worry, I'll let you have the body once I'm finished!"

Pyrrha and Jaune's eyes widened, before the former's narrowed in determination, as she prepared her weapons, while Jaune got Crocea Mors ready...

...however...

" **...Heh** ,"

A single hand, Dorée's hand, suddenly lashed out and gripped the outstretched arm, surprising Cinder and everyone else, before they turned back to the prone girl, whose face was now hidden in shadow.

A sound was not heard for a few moments before suddenly a chuckling began to be heard. It began softly before it began to rise until everyone could hear it, before suddenly the chuckles turned into low laughs.

Everyone only blinked before Dorée threw her head back and exploded in maniacal, bone-chilling, laughter. Which made everyone uneasy, until the girl suddenly stopped and spoke.

" **Why thank you...,** " Dorée said, the voice not sounding like her own, while making everyone flinch in fear, " **...You have no idea how long I waited for this day!** "

Her head lowered back down, her eyes closed before they suddenly snapped open, revealing a pair of slit pupiled crimson eyes, with the sclera now being pitch black.

Cinder's own eyes widened in horror, as she looked at the, yet again, changed eyes. Seeing them with the same eyes as Salem's. She also noticed a gleaming insanity within those red pits, as they looked at her before she felt her arm being squeezed tightly and felt her bones beginning to crack, as the young woman holding the said limb continued her cackling.

" **It feels so good to finally get out of that cramped cage and finally stretch my legs...well, not exactly _my legs_ but... oh well,** " she said, before looking at Cinder making the Fallen Maiden flinch, " **At least now I can start having some fun...,** "

With that said, and before anyone could say anything, the ashen-haired woman was given a hard punch that sent her flying back and slamming right into Emerald, causing them to slam hard to the ground.

Adam was so stunned by what happened, that he didn't see Dorée appear right in front of him until she spoke.

" **I think it's about time to teach you some respect** _ **,**_ " Adam snapped his head toward her, and his eyes widened, before his face was grabbed, " **Let's start with the first lesson: Kicking your Ass from here to Atlas!** "

With that said, she delivered a devastating Spartan kick, that sent Adam careening into a wall.

" **How does it feel being made someone's bitch, eh!?** " the now deranged teen cackled, " **I wonder what your pretty little kitty would say to that!** "

The sound of cocking guns and swords being drawn was as she turned and saw the White Fang grunts that Adam brought with them.

" **Oh! And here comes the cannon fodder!** " she said before cracking her knuckles, " **Alright then! Who wants to go first!?"**

She was answered as a Deer Faunus charged at her. Sword raised as he proceeded to slash at her, while she just casually dodged, a bored look on her face.

" **Yawn...*SWING*...Snoresville...*Swing*...really?** "

After a final swing, she decided that enough was enough. With one swipe of her hand, she slit the Faunus' neck.

The terrorist fell back, his hands on his throat as he tried to stem the blood now flowing from his neck. But it was all in vain, as his struggles all but ceased a few moments later.

" **Well that was just boring,** " she said, before looking at other, before the cruel smile came back on her face. " **So, who's next!?** "

With that, every one of the WF grunts decided to use numbers to their advantage, and just charge in all at once.

All the while Jaune and Pyrrha just looked in horror, as the slaughter continued.

"W...What do we do?" Jaune said, before looking at his partner, "...Pyrrha?"

Said Mistralian didn't know what to say as she watched the girl...her future child, now turned into something...in her own words, atrocious.

She could only watch as 'Dorée' casually snapped a cat faunus' neck, prompting a female Faunus with fox ears to scream in rage, as she fired her gun, only for the possessed girl to raise her hand and actually stop the bullets in mid-air, via her semblance, before sending them back at the said White Fang, riddling her with her own ammo.

A Puma Faunus, then attempted to use his claws on her...only for his wrist to be caught, and an elbow drive later, broke his humerus.

" **Oh, Come. On!** " she shouted, " **Is there anyone out there willing to give me a challen-** "

She was cut off, before a red and black blur charged at her, before drawing a red like katana, with a trigger on the guard, forcing the girl to jump back and look at the new arrival, which caused Jaune and Pyrrha to blink in confusion at the newcomer.

A woman with black hair and was dressed in a shallow cut black dress, five necklaces with an assortment of beads, a red girdle-belt, and a pair of matching gauntlets with fingerless gloves.

An object that looks to be made from feathers hangs from the right side of her skirt. She was also wearing detached black leggings with a red splatter pattern, and black leather boots beneath them.

Her most distinctive feature, however, is a fearsome, full-face mask that resembles the face of a Grimm, with four eye slits, which they could see a pair of red eyes in the top eye holes.

However, 'Dorée' just smiled as if she just won the lottery.

" **Oh, well well well, I wasn't expecting _you_ to show up here of all places...Raven Branwen,** " she said, part with excitement, part confusion, " **Considering you're an uncaring bandit bitch and all,** "

The woman's red eyes narrowed behind the mask as she looked at the possessed clone.

"So, Canus was right," she said, as she stood up from the kneeling position she was in, "Merlot really did creat a Human Grimm hybrid. And from what I saw, a highly unstable one,"

" **Oh? So that old killjoy is here too, eh?** " The clone said, before making a 'tsked' sound, " **Surprised he told _you_ of all people and not that old fool Ozpin,** "

Raven only glared before entering a combat stance.

"Let's just say he gave me a damn convincing reason why," she said, "Also, he and Ozpin are not on the best-speaking terms at the moment,"

'Dorée' gave a mad cackle at that.

" **Oh that is good!** " she said, laughing so hard she held her sides, " **Even though they preach the whole serving the light side or whatever bullshit, they can't always agree on anything! I have to admit, what a bunch of morons!** "

She then stopped laughing before looking at Raven again.

" **Of course, you have problems considering you can't tell the difference between what a family is suppose to truly be** ," she said, making Raven blink, " **I mean seriously, calling a group of murderous, greedy, stinkin' bandits family, and not your own flesh and blood daughter? Real momma of the year material,** "

Raven's grip on her sword tightened when she heard that, as she gritted her teeth. But the possessed clone was not done yet.

" **I gotta wonder if you ditched her, along with her daddy, because her hair is so blonde it glows, making it a beacon for everyone to see! Get it!? HAHAHAHAHA!** "

"ENOUGH!" Raven shouted, as her red glowed angrily, "I'm going to break you in two! Screw what Canus says!"

'Dorée' just smirked at that, " **Now that's what I like to hear,** " she said before perking, " **Oh! Hold on second! Since the two lovebirds have my body's previous weapons, I'll need to call in the reserves!** "

Both Jaune and Pyrrha, despite the situation, blushed at the insistence that they were lovers, but it was cut as they watched their 'daughter' began to tap a button on her gauntlet.

It wasn't long before the unmistakable sound of rockets got their attention, and a Rocket Locker landed right beside the Grimm Dorée, who wasted no time, as it opened and she proceeded to bring whatever it was out.

Pyrrha's eyes then widened as she saw what looked to be duo golden versions of Milo, one was the normal size of her sword, while the other was a smaller dagger.

" **Like them, P-Money?** " Geist Dorée said snidely, " **I gotta admit, the 'little goodie-two-shoes' really took a lot of inspiration from you and your little boy toy when it came to weapons. Of course she did add her own flare of originality...like for example,** "

The Golden Milo then shifted into gun form, which instead of the battle Rifle, like Pyrrha's, it morphed into an Assault Rifle, which Geist Dorée then aimed at Raven.

" **The gun mode is BETTER!** " with that said, she squeezed the trigger and unleashed a hail of bullets.

Of course, Raven was not known as a great swordswoman for nothing, and she showed that, as faster than anyone could see, she deflected the rounds coming at her, both the ones that could've hit and the ones that would've missed.

Hey, better to be safe than sorry.

The barrage lasted for 10 seconds before the ran dry.

" **Hmm, not bad,** " Geist Dorée commented before shifting the Golden Milo back to Xiphos form, before moving the blade into a reverse grip. The grin on her face never leaving.

" **This fight is about to get a whole lot more... _fun_ ,**"

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112**_ _ **: O-Kay, not gonna lie, this chapter was a bitch! I think it was either lack of confidence in myself, or just a severe case of Writer's Block, but this chapter was hard to write. I hope you all endured well in waiting for this.**_

 ** _Aside from that...since I'll forget to add the names of the two new weapons that the Geist Grimm is now wielding, I'll put down their names and what they form into._**

 ** _Chrysós_** ** _Mílos : Translated: Golden Destroyer. An incarnation of Milo_** **_wielded by Pyrrha Nikos, the design is basically the same,_** ** _with Dorée's own originality mixed in_** , ** _with the main difference being the reverse in colors, a dominant gold with a red edge. What also sets it's apart from Milo, is that is forms into an Automatic Assault Rifle, rather than a battle rifle._**

 ** _Tékno Xífos_** ** _: Translated: Child Sword. Dagger counterpart to_** ** _Chrysós_** ** _Mílos. Same design as the said weapon, including reverse colors, but is instead a dagger that morphs into a pistol._**

 ** _And that's all I have for now. If any of you have ideas, or want to contribute to these weapons, let me know._**

 ** _Also, as a reminder, don't forget to visit my Arkos Child Challenge Forum. And Please a Fav, Alert, and Review!_**

 ** _Until then... Later~!_**


	8. Chapter 7: Precipice

_**Patriot-112: Hey everyone! Here we all are again. Sorry if it took so long again, watching RWBY Volume 5, and getting more inspiration, will do that. But now I'm here and we can continue.**_

 _ **Also, I forgot to add that Chrysós Mílos also has a spear function like it's predecessor, the original Milo. And, I apologize for the note at the beginning of last chapter. I've had bad experience with critics like Agato - The Hadou Inari, and FFwatchdog. So you can see why I'm overly salty when it comes to bad criticism. Good, constructive criticism I can tolerate, but not flaming, nasty, name-calling criticisms.**_

 _ **Anyway, enough about that, let's continue!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 7:**_

 _ **Precipice**_

* * *

 _ **Alternate Future**_

 _ **27 AFB**_

* * *

The lone person sat at the workbench as they worked on their current project. That said project, being a sword/spear hybrid like weapon, colored predominantly gold with a red edge. As they added the last of the pieces, a figure watched from the shadows, with quiet interest.

As soon as the one at the bench was finished with installing the final piece and adjusting it so that it would not fall out, they gave a small smile of victory.

"It's finally finished," the girl, who had been working on the said weapon, exclaimed with a small smile, before picking it up. "Now, just need to test it,"

The figure in the shadows watched as the girl stood up from the stool and moved to stand in the center of the room, before with the flick of the wrist the blade formed into a golden red trimmed assault rifle. The young woman held the rifle in her hands into an aiming position, and looked down the sights. She hummed in thought as she made a few more snaps with the rifle.

"Sights are good... Weight is good... Balance is good," she said, "Now to test the swing,"

She then shifted the weapon back into sword form before making a few test swings.

"Not too heavy, nor too light," he said, with a hint of pride "Need to put it through a field test though."

Her thoughts were then interrupted as the one in the shadows spoke up.

"Another weapon, Dorée?"

Her eyes widen slightly before snapping in the direction of said voice, as they stepped into the light.

"Oh! Milady, I-I...," Dorée began to say only to be stopped as the woman smiled as she rose her hand to calm her down.

"It's quite alright, my dear child," the woman said, as she looked at the sword, a wave of nostalgic familiarity and regret entering her eyes. "I see you built your own version of your mother's Milo?"

Dorée's face turned solemn at that, as she nodded at that, "Yes...I know I already have Aurea Mors, but I had the feeling that if I somehow lose them, I'm going to need a backup weapon...ya know, just in case,"

The black haired woman only smiled as her gloved hand reached up and caressed the blonde-redhead's hair.

"And I find no problem with that," she said, before frowning, "Except for one thing,"

Dorée blinked at that, "And that is?"

The woman, formerly Cinder Fall, just smiled.

"It's needs a mate,"

* * *

 _ **0 BFB***_

* * *

Sparks flew as metal clashed against metal as the two blades, one crimson red, and the other gold with a red edge, met each other. The former held by the masked Bandit Leader, known as Raven Branwen, and the latter, being wielded by the formerly, now currently psychotic Grimm possessed, Dorée Arkos.

And watching the scene were Jaune and Pyrrha. Both of them felt helpless as they watched the girl, now sporting Grimm features, who is supposedly, their biological daughter, fighting the masked female Branwen.

The insane laughter from the girl echoing in their ears, as she swung viciously at the ravenette.

" **Yes! Make me feel alive Branwen!** " was the cackling shout, as the two continued their duel, " **Make the fun last!** "

Jaune could only gulp, as his grip on the longsword, that they recovered back at the last clearing, tightened, cursing himself for stalling.

Pyrrha was in the same situation, as she watched what could possibly be her child fighting like a blood crazed beast, unlike what she saw before back at the stadium.

Not to mention, there was no sign of the hesitant fear in those now, blood red slitted eyes. Now, they only showed sadistic lunacy, and bloodlust, as the two women clashed and entered into a deadlock.

" **I must say, you are definitely giving me the fun I always wanted** ," Geist Dorée commented before she shoved Raven back, " **Unlike the last person I fought like this, since she was too much of a coward to even hurt the girl, whose body I now hold** ,"

Both Jaune and Pyrrha blinked at that, while Raven's eyes narrowed.

"Too bad for you..." she started before attacking as her odachi clashed with the Xiphos type blade, "...I'm not her!"

The two continued their fight, sparks flying from every clash. Eventually, they met in another deadlock, as two different pairs of red eyes glared at each other.

" **And if I had your daughter's body?** " the Geist possessed teen said suddenly, making Raven blink behind her mask, " **Oh wait, I forgot...you don't care about that little bimbo of a daughter of yours! After All, you did leave her and your fuck toy to go about slaughtering entire villages, and robbing poor farmers who barely had any money like the vicious bandit you are!** "

Raven's own red eyes glowed at that as her anger grew.

The Geist saw this, as she smiled, ready to deliver the nail to the coffin.

" **What? It's the truth. You and the rest of your pitiful band of hooligans may think you're all so strong, even though you haven't hit a big target like Mistral yet.** " she said while shaking her head, " **It makes me think whether you are so strong as you claim to be, or you're just a bunch of little chicks who are still having trouble flying with the real big wigs...tft, sad really. Not to mention the high possibility of your so-called 'family' of cutthroats will plot to stab you in the back when you let your guard down,** "

Raven growled even more as he sheathed her sword, and entered an Iaido stance, squeezed the trigger on the said blade, and the revolving cylinder spun before it settled on the fire dust.

"I...told you...to SHUT THE FUCK UP!" with that shout, Raven quick-drew the katana, and a crescent of flame flew straight toward the Grimmified girl, causing both Jaune and Pyrrha to worry, while said clone only smirked.

" **Really?** " She then held out her hand, just as the fire crescent slammed into her...only for the flames to swirl, and then disappear into her palm, before she closed her fist, causing the eyes of everyone to widen. " **Did Canus forget to tell you?** "

She looked at the shocked Branwen's eyes, and only smiled further.

" **Well then, let me educate you...** ," she then pointed to herself, " **This girl is the Fall Maiden of her time, little black bird,** "

Pyrrha's eyes widen at that, while Jaune blinked, confused at what he heard. Raven was also shocked, being reminded of Vernal, the current Spring Maiden, who she had found and trained years ago, and was back with the tribe in Anima.

' _Dammit! I should've brought her!_ ' she thought angrily, cursing herself for the Rookie mistake.

" **Now then...** ," the Geist said, as the handle on the Milo copy extended, turing the sword into a javelin, while the dagger suddenly shifted into a pistol. " **Let us continue** ,"

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile**_

* * *

Cinder groaned as she awoke from the hit that sent her into Emerald, and then the two flying back. She then sat up and looked around, before her eyes landed on Emerald who looked to be knocked out as well.

" _Cinder_!" the angered voice, of the one she REALLY didn't want to anger said, as another of the Observers approached her, and she looked into the orb, and saw the clearly angered face of Salem, " _Didn't I make it clear enough for you, when I specifically said to return home!?_ "

The Pseudo Maiden gulped as she looked at her Mistress.

"I-I...," she began to say, but was cut off.

" _But nothing! Instead, you disobeyed me, and went to play around with that girl, and now you unleashed something that is putting our whole plan for the kingdoms at risk,_ " the Master of the Grimm growled as her red eyes glowed furiously, " _Now, I will say this the for last time...Return. And_ don't _disobey me again, or the consequences WILL be severe_ ,"

Cinder though still wanting to make that bitch pay, but fear of her Queen, won out over her pride.

She looked in the direction of the ruins, as she could still see the fighting going on... apparently the now psychotic girl was fighting someone else. And to her surprise, it was the twin sister of that drunken fool, Raven Branwen.

Sparks flew as the two clashed with their respective blades, both determined to kill the other.

Cinder felt that she should take this chance and fire an arrow at the crazy bitch and be done with it...but she's already pushed her luck to it's limit, and didn't want to anger Cinder anymore than she already has. Stepping up from the ground, she turned back to Emerald, and proceeded to lift the unconcious girl into a Fireman carry, before proceeding to turn to the still intact, but now landed Bullhead, with the cockpit now mysteriously empty. However, she had not time to ponder that.

And flying the airship will be no trouble, since she was a pilot herself.

* * *

Raven blocked another strike from the possessed girl, but that didn't protect her from the force that sent her flying backward, causing her to bounce a few times on the ground, and smashing through a ruined wall, before being stopped by the next one.

Her body flickered red as her aura drained away from the hit, while she slid back down to the ground.

"Dammit!" she cursed as she proceeded to stand back on her feet.

" **You have definitely given me the fun I wanted, Raven,** " the Branwen sister heard, as she looked and saw the glowing red eyes through the dust created by the destroyed wall, " **But now it's time I end this little spat, and kill that little pseudo maiden...and I think a few dozen collaterals before I leave** ,"

Raven glared at Geist Dorée as the dust began to settle revealing the smirk on the girl's face.

"Funny, a while ago you were using non-lethal tactics when it came to those Atlas grunts," she said, causing the Grimm girl to scoff.

" **That's because I was not in control, you twit,** " she retorted, causing Raven to growl at her as she continued, " **I can only take control, when this little brat has gone off the deep end, or if her will shatters. And let me tell you, it's a bitch trying to make her lose her cool** ,"

Once Raven stood back up, she looked Geist Dorée in the eye, whose smirk only grew as she ran the tips of her fingers across the edge of the blade of her weapon's sword form.

" **But now that her will is shattered, I am now in complete control.** " she ended the sentence with a sinister chuckle at the end.

"So what will you do now? Go to Salem and become her new pet?" Raven asked, which caused Geist Dorée to stop chuckling, and look at Raven, making the Branwen take a double take at the now venom filled look in her eyes at the mention of that specific name.

" **And why would I do _that_ , Little Branwen?**" she asked rhetorically, " **When she was killed in my time, ALL us Grimm became free to do as we wanted. No stupid Queen to hold our leash, no more Huntsmen or Huntresses to hunt us down, and best of all, no more _Silvered Eyed_ Warriors.** "

Raven noted the hateful distaste in the clone's voice when she mentioned her teammate Summer's people. And as far as she knew, there was only one left...said teammate's daughter.

" **But that's a story I don't intend to share,** " she said, before suddenly disappearing, and reappearing beside Raven before kicking her upside the head, and into another wall, and losing her grip on her nodachi as it went flying away.

Before she could make an attempt to get it, a metallic boot slammed in her chest and pinned her to the wall.

" **Oh no you don't!** " Geist Dorée said, before lifting her sword up and ready to finish the ravenette off. Raven grabbed hold of the said limb, even slamming her arm down on it in order to get her off, but it didn't budge.

The Grimmified girl could only smirk at Raven's attempts to get free.

" **How does it feel, Raven?** " she asked, causing her to look up, " **To be helpless for once under one's boot?** "

Raven only growled before spitting a wad at her, but the girl didn't care as she just smirked more.

" **Oh! And don't worry about your Tribe of numb-skulls...for they will join you soon. Goodbye, Raven Branwe-OOF!** "

Before she could stab Raven, an unexpected red and bronze blur slammed into her, making her lose her grip on her sword at it went flying off to the side and landed on the ground with a clatter..

"PYRRHA!" she heard a worried shout, and turned to see the young blonde kid, moving through the hole that was made.

With the said person, Pyrrha wrestled with the girl, that a moment ago, looked like a blonde haired version of herself. Now, as she looked into Dorée's now red Grimm-like pupils, after turning her onto her back, she felt a great ache in her heart at what her daughter had become.

"Dorée! Please stop this!" She shouted, hoping to reach her, "This is too much! Snap out of it!"

The red eyes narrowed in annoyance at her as she felt a foot plant itself into her chest and push her away.

" **Dorée is gone, _Invincible Girl_!** " The Grimm shouted, " **I'm in control now!"**

Pyrrha responded to that with a glare, "I don't believe that!" she shouted as he brought up Milo and Akouo. Geist Dorée only rolled her eyes at the Spartan's stubbornness.

" **Why the hell do you care about a person you only just met?** " she asked, " **Let alone that she was created in a vat rather than being born, because your stupid future decisions denied her that chance!** "

Pyrrha only looked at her future daughter as she processed what she said, before her eyes only narrowed.

"I don't care if we just met," she started, "I don't care that she was bred in some laboratory!"

She stopped herself, as she gritted her teeth, remembering how Ozpin, Ironwood, Goodwitch, and Qrow showed her Amber, the story of the Maidens being true, and most especially, the choice of becoming the next Fall Maiden...and what Canus told her... of the invasion, Penny's death, ... and the possibility of her dying...and the fact that Jaune would die soon afterward, left her with feelings of doubt about Destiny. Especially since it would lead to their daughter suffering a terrible future.

Something she didn't want.

"And if my decisions lead to my future child suffering a time of misery and despair...," she then hurled her shield at G-Dorée, who deflected it with her own weapon, but that gave Pyrrha the opening to attack, as she charged forward, and struck with Milo, which was blocked it's incarnation, after the said possessed girl brought it back via polarity. "...Then I won't let that happen!"

The red slit eyes looked at her with a impassive look, before she sighed irritably,.

" **Ya know, I was only going to humiliate you, if you got in my way...,** " G-Dorée said, before shoving Pyrrha back, before she then used the same trick she did with Raven, only this time, she backhanded the Spartan across the face and sent her tumbling across the ground. " **...But now I change my mind, I'm gonna kill you, and then I'm gonna torture your little daughter's soul until there's nothing left of it!** "

"NO!" she heard a shout, and turned around just in time to see Jaune running towards her, Aurea Mors in hand, which almost made her laugh, before she lifted up her hand, and used the Polarity semblance to catch Jaune's armor, and lifted him, effortlessly off the ground, while the sword fell to the ground with a clang.

" **Don't worry, Vomit-Boy,** " G-Dorée with a mocking sweet tone, as she slowly squeezed her hand slowly into a fist making the cuirass plate bend inward and making him yelp in pain, " **I'll be nice and make sure you'll join your partner so she wouldn't be alone in the afterlife this time.** "

Pyrrha, having heard Jaune's scream, turned and saw what was happening. And then she snapped.

"Let him go!" she yelled in rage as she quickly stood up from the ground and ran at the Grimm possessed clone, and succeeded in jumping onto her back.

" **You really want to die, do you!?** " G-Dorée shouted in frustration, as she thrashed against the desperate champion " **You and her _really_ are alike!** "

She then succeeded in driving an elbow into Pyrrha's stomach before her semblance and catching the metal in Pyrrha's armor.

" **Like Mother! Like Daughter!** "

She held the two partners in the air, as both of her hands glowed black, with Jaune being one side and Pyrrha on the other. The latter's hand which didn't have reached out toward Jaune, which caused the Ghost Grimm to laugh.

" **Oh, now isn't that just sweet** ," she mockingly laughed, " **Partners for almost a year, and already, love blooms... makes me wanna puke!** "

She then looked at the two before deciding to humor the two struggling lovebirds.

" **Since you're both gonna die anyway, I'll tell you both a little secret** ," she said, chuckling deviously, " **I assume that old fossil Canus said that Merlot managed to integrate my DNA and a Beowolf's into your little spawn... but did he tell you how Merlot did it?"**

Jaune and Pyrrha could only as G-Dorée used her polarity to manipulate the iron in the ground, and encase their limbs so they wouldn't escape.

The possessed girl then reached behind her, and undid the clasps holding up her breastplate before it fell off and landed with a clang.

However, before she continue, she ducked as Raven, who recovered her sword, tried to decapitate, before feeling an elbow drive into her stomach, and then a kick to the face, which shattered her Grimm helmet and caused to land on her backside, dazed.

" **Nah ah ah, you had your turn** ," G-Dorée chastised, while wagging her finger, " **Now...nightie night!** "

With that she delivered another 'boot-to-the face' which finally knocked the Bandit leader out cold. She then placed her forefinger on her chin.

" **Now...where was I? Oh yes!"** she turned back to the two, and noticed Pyrrha was using her own polarity in order to escape, and succeeded and broke loose before stretching to the side, and calling Milo back to her, and turned toward the creature now holding Dorée's body, preparing to fight in order to free her, but stopped cold as her eyes widened in fright.

G-Dorée smirked as she looked at Pyrrha, while she had the dagger that had now transformed into a combat pistol, which was aimed at a still restrained Jaune's head.

 **"What did I tell ya?"** she mockingly queried, as she pressed the barrel against Jaune's temple, causing him to wince as he gritted his teeth, **"All those skills, all that strength, and all it takes to stop you is putting a gun to your pretty leader's head. Now, you gonna be a good girl and let me tell how the good Doc implanted me into your daughter? Or are you gonna be the idiot hero and get your beloved adorkable leader killed...don't deny it cereal girl, I know all about your feelings for this idiot,"**

Pyrrha, for her part, was now panicking as she looked at the scene in front of her. She knew that if she tried anything, Jaune will be killed. And then, there is the curiosity in how Merlot did this to Dorée, and find a way to reverse it.

Deciding to buy time, as well as learn, she slowly but not foolishly lowered her weapon, causing G-Dorée to giggle.

" **Smart girl,"**

Pyrrha only glared at the red/black eyes, before asking the question through gritting teeth.

"What did Merlot do?"

G-Dorée grinned before switching the gun in her left hand to her right before turning around. And with the weapon still aimed at Jaune, she reached back behind her, and grabbed a part of her golden attire on the middle of her back, before giving a hard tug. The sound of tearing clothes echoed in the air, and Pyrrha's eyes widened in horror, before placing a hand over her mouth.

Jaune's face was also twisted in horror, as he could still see what was happening, even with the gun pointed at his head.

There, on Dorée's back, was a burn scar in the shape of the logo of Merlot Industries.

" **Take it all in kiddies,** " G-Dorée said, enjoying their horror-stricken faces, " **This, is the future of your little girl...created, trained, and branded like cattle, to be used as a dispensable tool in order to save the pathetic fools of this era. And hidden under this little brand... I reside,** "

* * *

 _ **Unknown**_

* * *

' _I killed her...I killed her._..,'

That same phrase kept repeating itself, again, and again, as she laid there on the cold floor, alone in the dark. Her guilt, self loathing, and anguish was tearing her apart...and she let it.

She had failed her mission. She had failed to control her anger. She failed to keep the Grimm inside her at bay.

And worse...she had killed her mother.

And now, everything was lost. The future was lost.

Destiny, in all it's bitchness, had won yet again.

*Tap*

' _What'll I do now...?_ '

*Klack*...*Klack*

' _I failed her...again._ '

*Klack*...*Klack*...*Klack*

' _I guess that's all I'm ever good at..._ ,'

*Klack*... *Klack* ... *Klack*

' _...Being a fantastic failure,_ '

*Klack*...

' _It probably would've been for the best, if I hadn't even existed,_ '

"That, I so strongly disagree with you on...,"

Her eyes snapped open, revealing the redness from crying, before she quickly snapped up and looked around, before her eyes settled on a person standing not far away, and they widened further in recognition.

"Y...You...h-how...?" she whispered out as the person before her just gave a sad smile before kneeling down and and a brown silky gloved hand began caressing the face of the recently distraught and now confused Dorée.

"Hello again...my dear daughter," the woman...now revealed to be Pyrrha Nikos said. Though unlike the one Dorée killed, this one looked more older, and wearing a different version of her huntress armor, but still looked as beautiful nonetheless, "It's been a while hasn't it?"

The clone child couldn't believe what she just heard as she looked at Pyrrha like a gaping fish.

"But...b-but...I-I...-," she tried to say only to have a finger touch her lips to stop her from talking and then being brought into a warm embrace, much to her confusion and anxiety.

"It's okay...my little Knight Huntress," the red head champion said, as she began caressing her hair, "Don't say anything right now...just let it out,"

Dorée, though still outright confused, could only reach her arms, shakily, around Pyrrha's waist, before her own tears returned once again, and she nestled her head into the crook of her mother's neck and began to cry.

The two women stayed like that, as Pyrrha let the girl unleash all of her sorrow, pain, joy, and anger all out at once, while a few happy tears of her own leaked from her eyes.

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112: And cliffhanger! Merry Christmas my friends! It has certainly been too long. Unfortunately, for those of you waiting on my other work such as Naruto, and the Kyuubi Child, Iron Cross Alliance, and numerous projects I placed on hold... other fanfic projects I'm co-authoring with other writer, and things at home are gonna keep me busy from doing anything else. But please know I have NOT given up on them, okay?**_

 _ **Good. Also, After Christmas, I'm going to go see Star Wars Ep.8 (no spoilers in the reviews please!). Also, and this is the last time I'm gonna say this, go visit my Forum (On this same site), Arkos Child Challenge. Well, until then my friends. Later!**_


	9. Chapter 8: Never Go back on my word

_**Patriot-112: Hey, hey, hey! Wazzup and Happy new year! ... Of course if it's way passed that, then...oops! Also, recent episodes of RWBY... HO. LY. TURD-ON-A-STICK! Ain't gonna spoil it for you guys, you just have to see for yourselves. Anyway here is the new chapter for Aurea Mors: Alter Zwei...**_

 _ **Note: Beta Read by 117Jorn**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 8:**_

 _ **Never go back on my word**_

* * *

 _ **Unknown**_

* * *

How was this possible?

That was the thought as she continued to embrace the woman that was her mother tightly. How was she here? With her? Right now?

She so wanted to ask these questions, but for the life of her, she just couldn't. Feeling that if she uttered a single word, she would disappear.

"Ho... How?" she finally managed to say, after nearly twenty (in her mindscape) minutes of crying, "How are you here?"

Pyrrha ended the embrace, though a bit reluctantly, and looked in the same green eyes like her own.

"Before I died... the second time," Dorée winced at the memory, making her look down in shame, but Pyrrha would have none of that as she gently, but firmly, lifted her daughter's chin to look at her, and seeing the look in her eyes that she knew well when she possessing the body of Cinder Fall, Dorée wisely listened, "...I knew I didn't have much time. And, knowing that the time will come that the Geist will try to manipulate you into going into that Beowolf berserker state in order to gain control of your body, I had used the last of my remaining Aura to implant this imprint of myself, so if the chance of that ever happening did occur, I will be here to help you take your body back,"

Dorée's eyes widened in awe at that, before they suddenly gained a sorrow look to them.

"But... why would I do that... I...," she gulped slightly as what happened moments before repeated itself in her mind, "I-I killed you, the younger you... What can I do, not you're-,"

"What you saw was an illusion, Dorée," Pyrrha said, making her daughter snap her head up at that, eyes wide in shock, and a little hope. "Cinder had Emerald put you into one of her hallucinations, made you think you killed me,"

Dorée was shocked to the core... if she hadn't killed her... then that meant...

"I... I didn't fail?" she managed to whisper out, which Pyrrha smiled, as said champion's hand caressed her face.

"No..." she said, before her face morphed into a worried frown, "But I'm afraid that the Geist would soon make it a reality,"

Dorée's eyes widen in horror, before she quickly stood up.

"I have to stop it!" she said, and looked around the dark void. "How do I get out of here!?"

Pyrrha watched as her daughter looked around frantically for a way out of her mindscape, even running from one side to the other, looking for a wall that could to a door in order for her to escape this darkness.

"Dammit! Where's the exit!?" Dorée said, desperation now coloring her tone, "I gotta get out of here!"

"Dorée...,"

"I NEED to get out!"

"Dorée,"

"I can't let it happen! Not again!"

"Dorée!"

"I WON'T GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN!"

"DOREE!"

The girl looked at Pyrrha, who was giving her a firm scowl, surprised that she actually shouted. Said redhead took a deep breath as she stood up and looked at her daughter.

"Please...," she began as she walked up to Dorée and gently grabbed the sides of her head in order to make her look into her eyes. "...breath. Just breath. Take a moment, and calm yourself,"

Dorée blinked for a few moments, before finally doing that, as she took a deep breath, while closing her eyes. The two stayed there for a full minute, not saying anything, until Pyrrha spoke again.

"That's it... just calm yourself," she instructed, "Calm down, and think,"

The daughter of Arkos did exactly that, calming herself down, until she was finally able to control herself.

She opened her eyes again, and looked into Pyrrha's own. Said Spartan smiled as she saw that Dorée had finally calmed down.

"Good... now, listen to me very closely," she said, "Right, my past self is fighting the Geist, however she is outmatched. But, we are in your mind, and time moves faster in here than it does outside. Which gives you time to think of a plan in how to counter the Geist,"

Dorée's head bowed at that, a look of self-disappointment on her face, before it rose back up.

"What must I do?" she asked, causing Pyrrha to smile, as she saw the spark she remembered in Dorée's younger days coming back.

"Well...," Pyrrha said, as she motioned for the clo- no, her daughter, to follow her. "The Geist doesn't know of me being here, and helping you, so you have the element of surprise. And, since it loves to brag... a lot, it'll screw up and reveal to us something we could use to get back control of your body,"

"How do we do that?" Dorée asked, and Pyrrha smiled.

"Even though the Geist has control of your body, it doesn't have complete control of your mind... your subconscious. It is here where it can't touch you, and also a place where you can plan your counter attack," she then held out her hand forward, and made a sweeping motion.

With that, an area of darkness cleared away and Dorée could see that they were still Emerald Forest, but noticed that Cinder was no longer in front of her, but rather... Raven Branwen.

"What's she doing here?" Dorée said with an edge to her tone, as she remembered all the stories she heard about the bandit leader, and not all of them good. Pyrrha had a small glare on her face as she looked at the woman who helped Cinder during the Battle of Haven, and was partially responsible for Weiss' being grievously wounded.

"Apparently, from what I was able to hear, Canus had told her everything about you," the champion said, making Dorée's eyes widen at the name.

"Wait, Canus!? Then that must mean...," she didn't finish the sentence, as Pyrrha nodded.

"Yes... though I question his sanity on that decision," she remarked, "Despite what he says about Ozpin being ignorant and unable to adapt to the times, which are true, Ozpin still means well, and regretted his actions. Not to mention Canus has his own flaws as well."

Dorée scowled at that part, "Doesn't mean I will forgive him for getting you involved... and remind me to give that grey cloaked bastard a kick in the balls next time I see him," she said, and Pyrrha gave a sheepish laugh at that last part, as they continued to watch the fight, until finally seeing the Geist succeed in pinning the Branwen sister down.

But before it could deliver the final blow, and much to the shock of Dorée, the younger Pyrrha arrived and tackled her Grimm possessed body. The conversation between them was heard, and after hearing Pyrrha's vow to free Dorée, said clone's only widened in shock.

"She... she doesn't care that I... that I'm a...," she couldn't finish as he tried to process what she heard, before Pyrrha's hand placed itself on her shoulder, causing her to look at her mother, as the Sanctum chamption gave her a fond smile.

"You may be a clone of me and Jaune, Dorée... ," she said, "but that doesn't make you any less human, and despite what Merlot said, you're ARE our daughter. I judge people by their actions, not how they were born into this world,"

Dorée didn't say anything at first, too shocked by her mother's words, before she turned back to the fight, and immediately felt dread, when she saw the Geist place her own pistol against Jaune's head.

"F... Father...," she managed to whisper out, her eyes now wide with horror and fear. The same expression that was on the younger Pyrrha's face, before said champion backed down.

She then watched as the Geist then spoke on how Merlot proceeded to tell on how Merlot implanted itself and the Beowolf DNA inside her, causing her to listen intently, while watching as the Geist removed her armor, and reached behind her back.

Dorée's eyes widen in realization.

"...The brand mark," she said, before her eyes hardened as the Geist continued to talk.

"And thus, hidden behind this scar of burned flesh, Merlot, with all of his genius, placed me, in order to not only sabotage your little spawn's mission, but, to also serve as a messenger to the Merlot of this time...of course he didn't expect for his plan to go awry! Hahahaha! If Dorée were listening to this, I would gloat that all along, the old geezer was using her like a string on a puppet,"

Dorée's blood boiled at that, as her hatred for Merlot just skyrocketed even more, while her aura began to glow brightly.

' _That. BASTARD!_ '

Pyrrha watched as her daughter's aura, and her spirit began to return full force, as a smile formed on her face.

 _'Jaune... I hope you're watching. Cause our little girl is going to show what happens when you mess with a child of Arkos...,_ '

* * *

 _ **Outside**_

* * *

" _ **So yeah, that's how Merlot managed to graft myself and the beowolf to your little brat,**_ " The Geist said, having turned back around, Tékno Xífos still aimed at Jaune's head, " _ **Of course, you two lovebirds are not gonna live long enough to do anything about it... since I'm gonna kill you both anyway**_!"

G-Dorée then turned to Jaune, the crazy smile still plastered on her.

" _ **So then... you first, Fake Knight!**_ " with that, she squeezed the trigger, and Pyrrha too shocked by the revelation, just now caught on.

"NO! JAUNE!"

BANG!

The sound of the shot echoed around the ruins, and then it was quiet.

* * *

 _ **With the rest**_

* * *

Team RWBY, along with Canus, Qrow, the rest of Team JNPR, their friends, and the Professors, all stopped when they heard the shot.

"Shit! Hightail it, now!" Canus shouted, and everyone didn't need to be told twice and they did exactly that.

Ruby herself, was now growing more worried for her friends.

' _Jaune. Pyrrha. Please be okay!_ '

* * *

Pyrrha looked with wide eyes... not with horror or fear, but in surprise.

And the reason for that, the hand holding the combat pistol to Jaune's head had moved to the left, just enough where the bullet would just whiz by his face. Said Arc, was also surprised, so certain that he was going to die...by his Grimm possessed daughter's hand.

However, the one most shocked about this, was the Geist itself as it's eyes were wide, and the irises shrunken almost to the size of a pea..

" _ **Wh...What!?**_ " was the only thing it could say.

" _You won't touch them!_ " a voice sounded in her head, making the Grimm take a double take, " _I won't let you take them from me! NOT AGAIN!_ "

" _ **NO! HOW!?**_ " the Geist shouted, catching the two partners' attention, " _ **I have complete control of your body! Your will was shattered! So, how are you-!?**_ "

It stopped itself, before a look of horrified realization settled on it's face.

" _ **No... no, that's IMPOSSIBLE!**_ " it shouted, fear now present on it's face, before it looked at Pyrrha, and it then morphed into an angry snarl. " _ **You... you little BITCH!**_ "

The Geist then used Dorée's semblance to pull Aurea Mors to her, and caught the long sword in her right hand, before it began to charge at her, causing Pyrrha to go on guard...

 _ **"I'LL KILL YOU YA LITTLE WH-GUHK!**_ "

...Only for the Geist to suddenly stop and freeze in midstep.

" _ **Wh...What the...?**_ " the phantom Grimm suddenly realized it had lost the control of it's hosts legs and couldn't move.

" _I told you... I won't let you harm them again!_ " Dorée's voice sounded in her head, causing the Geist to growl menacingly, before noticing that Tékno Xífos had shifted back into it's dagger form, before the arm began to slowly move toward it. The Geist watched as it fought back to regain possession of the limb as it moved up to the shoulder, causing it to grunt.

" _ **What...What are you doing!?**_ " it said, before suddenly to it's shock, half of it's vision was gone. And then...

"What does it... l-look like!?" Dorée said, grunting as half of her face returned to normal, the Grimm black/red eye changing back to it's original human green, as well as her hair returning back to it's blonde coloring. And also the fact that it was Dorée herself talking through her mouth, "I'm taking back my body...for GOOD! By the way, thanks for spilling the beans on the chip!"

The Geist suddenly realized what she meant, as the now single red eye widened in alarm, before her right hand dropped Aurea Mors and grabbed Dorée's wrist.

" _ **NO! YOU CRAZY LITTLE SLUT! YOU'LL KILL US BOTH!**_ "

Dorée wasn't perturbed as she continued with her task.

"If it means...protecting them...then so...be it!" she grunted as the blade moved closer between the shoulder blades, "I swore to myself that I would protect them!"

The tip touched the 'M' of the Merlot logo.

"And an Arc..." both Pyrrha and Jaune's eyes to widen in familiarity at that, "...never goes back... _,_ "

The tip pierces the skin as blood begins to leak.

"ON THEIR WORD!" With that final shout, and with one last effort, she pushes the dagger into her back, before it hits something, and she knew she hit the target.

" _ **NO! NOOOOOOO!**_ " The Geist shouted, but Dorée didn't stop as she went deeper before both Jaune and Pyrrha heard the sound of a metallic crunch, and saw as sparking electricity arced around her.

" _ **AAAAAAAGGGGG**_ GGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" The Geist screamed as the rest of Dorée's body shifted back to normal, before she angled the blade and popped the genetic chip out of her back, sending it flying somewhere into the ruins, to be forever forgotten.

Jaune and Pyrrha looked on as the current died, and Dorée stood there, her appearance back to normal, taking shallow breaths, while her hair foreshadowed her eyes.

* * *

 _ **Mindscape**_

* * *

Dorée took deep breaths, as she stood on unsteady legs. The battle with the Geist, including the forced removal of the genetic chip, took a lot out of her, and she looked like she would collapse.

" Dorée...," the girl looked up, and saw her mother giving her the warmest and proudest smile she had ever, "...you did it, Dorée. You're finally free,"

Dorée didn't say anything for a moment, as she tried to regain her breath.

"But...Cinder. She's...," Dorée gasped out, and then felt her mother's warm touch on her face.

"Yes, Cinder's still alive and has no doubt used the Geist's battle with Raven to escape Vale by now," She said, but her tone didn't have any hint of disappointment or scold, "But, your intervention will no doubt throw Salem's plan back by a few months...maybe even a year. True they will try again, but now the Kingdoms will be on high alert. Of course, what you did here will no doubt start a Butterfly Effect, so you will need to keep your guard up. But, until that time, you must rest."

Then, a glow started to surround Pyrrha, and her smile turned sad.

"My time is up," she said, as she looked at her hand, "My aura's fading,"

Dorée's eyes widen at that, understanding what her mother meant as tears began to glisten.

"W-Wha...?," she managed to gasp out, before she finally began to panic, "N-No... Please, don't go!"

Pyrrha didn't say anything as she wrapped her daughter in a hug.

"It's okay, Dorée...," she said calmly, "... It's okay,"

Dorée's released a strangled sob at that, "Okay!? How can you be so calm!?" she shouted, as she wrapped her arms around Pyrrha, "I...I just got you back! And now... I'm losing you again...,"

She then started to sob, cursing Destiny and fate as they were taking her mother away yet again. Pyrrha, only continued to hug her as she stroked her hair, while gently shushing her.

"It's okay, shh, it's okay. You won't be alone, Dorée." she said gently, "I won't really be gone,"

"B-...But...," she said, but Pyrrha tightened her hug, which silenced her.

"You saved me, Dorée," the champion said, just she slowly started to turn into red glowing dust, "I'm still alive thanks to you,"

Dorée didn't say anything, as she continued crying, holding onto her mother as tightly as she could, even as she was disappearing.

"You've made me proud, Dorée," Pyrrha said, as a tear escaped her eye, "And you've made me very, very happy,"

With that said, Pyrrha Nikos finally disappeared into particles of glowing red dust.

* * *

Tears came in full force, as Dorée finally collapsed on her knees, prompting Pyrrha, to rush toward her, while using her semblance to free Jaune from his prison, and the paladin rushed over to them.

When they knelt down, and began checking over her, they began to hear a sound, one that both of them knew well.

Sobs...quiet, but still loud enough for them to hear.

"Dorée?" Pyrrha said, with caution and concern. This caused caused said girl to slowly raise her head up, and what she and Jaune shocked them, as they saw two emerald eyes, looking at both of them, shedding tears of sadness.

"I...I...I-I'm sorry," she managed to get out, but before either of them could say a word, Dorée surprised them, as she just grabbed the the two of them in an embrace, and was now sobbing uncontrollably. The two partners were definitely caught off-guard, as they looked at each other in bewilderment, but their expressions soon changed, as they, though a bit awkwardly returned her embrace.

This is the scene that Ren and Nora saw when they came upon them, both of them relieved to see their teammates okay.

"Hey! You guys okay?" Nora said as she knelt to them, as Pyrrha nodded as she rubbed Dorée's back, being careful of the wound.

"Yeah...," said Jaune, "...we got a bit of a scare when she suddenly turned Grimm on us, but... somehow, she managed to get herself back together...,"

Both of their teammates were a little on edge at the 'turned Grimm' part, but, seeing that the girl still looked human, and was now clinging to both Jaune and Pyrrha like a lifeline allowed them to have a little respite.

It wasn't after that the rest of their friends, along with Qrow, Canus, Ozpin, Goodwitch, and Ironwood showed up. With Qrow spotting his unconscious sister near the rubble, causing him to sigh as he went over to check on her.

Canus meanwhile, moved to the said couple, and their clone daughter, and saw the wound that was the former Merlot brand, on Dorée's back. He also, the clone being rather clingy to the Huntsman and Huntress in training, and the obvious tears coming out of her now closed eyes from what he could see.

"I wonder how you managed to snap her out of it and calmed her down," he said, and then sighed, "But right now, it can wait, since she's in obvious need of medical attention, and no doubt a lot of rest,"

"Now hold on a minu-!," James began to say, but received a harsh scowl from the gray cloaked in return.

"Not. Now. Jim," he said, his voice sharp as a razor's edge, "You can give her the Miranda Rights after she's coherent and rested, not before,"

The Atlas Headmaster looked like he was about to argue some more, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him, and he turned and saw Ozpin who shook his head, telling that now was not the time. The Cyborg General was forced to relent as he gave a exasperated sigh, while massaging his temples.

"If you insist...," was all he said after that, and Canus nodded before turning back to the three, with the leading pair of JNPR who were being asked by their friends if they were okay, and what happened. He then decided to intervene.

"You kids can ask them questions on what happened later," he stated, as he took off his cloak, revealing the grey colored cowboy-style shirt underneath, and handed the cloak to Pyrrha, who after a moment, took the clothing to wrap it around Dorée like a makeshift blanket, "Right now, it's best we get her back to Beacon,"

Glynda then spoke up.

"Wait a minute? What about Cinder?" she asked, which made the man sigh.

"She's probably long gone by now Glynda...," Canus said," ...and since neither she, her pet, or Taurus are among the dead White Fang grunts we saw earlier, we can assume Salem called her back. So, for now, let's just focus on the here and now. And worry about what comes next, later."

He then turned to Ozpin, his face turning serious.

"Oh, and Oz." he said, getting the Headmaster's attention, "If I were you, I'd stay a good 300 yards away from her when she's able to talk...she's just like Hazel after you sent his little sister on that training mission that got her killed,"

Ozpin actually winced at that, remembering that incident all too well. He nodded in agreement, which Canus took as a good answer. He then looked at the girl, who had somehow fallen asleep in the arms of her parents, sighing tiredly as he looked up into the now night sky.

"Man, what a day,"

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112: Aaaannnnnd Finished! Wow, this was actually quicker than last time. I hope you all enjoyed that, and also don't forget to leave a review, which includes your likes, dislikes, advice, and what you want to see happen in the next chapter.**_

 _ **And for those of you curious of what Canus' clothing looks like under the cloak? Picture him wearing a grey version of Revolver Ocelot's Cowboy getup from Metal Gear Solid: Phantom Pain. Until next time my friends, Later!**_

 _ **P.S.: My heart was breaking when I wrote that scene with canon Pyrrha, disappearing for the last time while saying goodbye to Dorée...still hurts man :( .**_


	10. Chapter 9: Aftermath

_**Patriot-112: Well, Volume 5 of RWBY has finally come to an end. Not satisfying to my taste, but at least we Arkos fans can live with satisfaction that Cinder has finally been put in her place. **_

_**Though we don't know if the flame bitch is actually dead, at least Pyrrha is avenged.**_

 _ **Now, without further delay, on with the show!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 9:**_

 _ **Aftermath**_

* * *

 _ **Beacon Academy**_

 _ **1 week after Rogue Huntress Incident**_

* * *

It had been exactly seven days after the incident during the Vytal Festival, which many are calling the Rogue Huntress incident after the said Huntress who... relieved Mercury Black of his prosthetic legs, and the ensuing chaos that followed, including the glowing red light in the Emerald Forest, and the large amount of Grimm that were attracted to it.

The citizens almost panicked at the large number of Grimm, the Breach incident still fresh on their minds. But thankfully, many Huntsmen and Huntresses who weren't on assignment, along with the Atlesian Army, managed to eliminate the growing horde in the forest and the ruins. However, thanks to the incident, the rest of the tournament's singles matches were postponed until further notice.

Not to mention the fact, the entire thing was seen LIVE on every television in every kingdom on Remnant. And to say the Councils of each kingdom, except for Vacuo, are furious is an understatement.

And that's what five people in the Office of the Headmaster of Beacon Academy were currently meeting about...as well as the said Rogue.

"You know, I have not seen so many fools arguing so much," said Canus, as he sat in a chair in Ozpin's office, while Qrow was standing in the corner, arms crossed, and a frown on his face, and Glynda was standing next to Ozpin, who was in his seat, while James stood off to the right. "I mean seriously, why have a council if they're gonna do is whine and bitch so much. *Sigh* Man, and this is why I hate politics so much,"

Glynda massage her temples in annoyance at that.

"Yes, we're all aware of your dislike for politics," she said, "But the main reason why we're here, is not only about the Councils' decisions... but also about the girl...,"

Canus took a breath at, before letting it out in a long sigh.

"You didn't tell them that she's here, right?" Canus questioned looking at Ozpin, before giving the Green wizard a guarded look, "Especially not Leo?"

Ozpin shook his head at that before taking a sip of coffee.

"No, I didn't," he said, before sighing sadly, "From what you told me, and the information on the scroll, apparently Salem has him as her spy in Haven... though, undoubtedly, out of fear. Of course, it explains how they were able to infiltrate the Vytal festival so easily,"

Qrow face turned hard at that, along with James'.

"I still can't believe Leo did it," the Branwen sibling said, "I know he was skittish at times but...to actually turncoat...?"

"Look at the lists of Huntsmen and Huntresses that are not in the Mistral Council's pocket, Qrow," Said Canus, giving the dusty old bird a pointed look, "All of the ones who are still loyal to Ozpin. All of your old schoolmates, rivals, and acquaintances... they're all gone! Lead into a trap by Salem, with Leo as her puppet, who gave him the coordinates and then Leo, using his seat on the Council, set them off on these missions, where Salem had Hazel and Tyrian waiting for them! Fear or not, Leo is still a traitor!,"

He then brought out his bowie knife as he inspected the blade.

"And that also means that the relic in Mistral is also compromised as well," he said, before glaring at Ozpin, "Wished you had listened to me before, and moved the damned things to different locations, Oz?"

The said Headmaster just groaned at that.

"And where do you proposed we could've sent them to, Canus?" he retorted.

"ANYWHERE BUT THE SCHOOLS!" Canus finally shouted as he shot up from his chair, making it fall backwards, "Yes they were built as fortresses in the past, but that was CENTURIES ago! Look around you! The world has changed, and Salem is changing with it! She's not stupid! The only one who hasn't changed tactics is YOU! You, who had kept secrets that everyone needed to know close to your chest, and thus resulted in people not trusting you, and look what the FUCK happened!?"

Ozpin kept silent for a moment, before deciding the subject needs to be changed.

"Aside from...changing with the tides," he said, causing Canus to scoff at the apparent subject change routine, "How is Miss Arkos?

Glynda was the one to answer.

"Professor Peach has looked over her after the... _incident_ last week," she said, "Aside from pure exhaustion, mentally, emotionally, and physically, the only major concern was the wound on her back... where the brand mark was originally,"

Ozpin winced internally as he had seen the wound itself, along with what remained of the brand that was Merlot's personal logo. After making sure that everything else about her was stable, Ozpin instructed the School doctor to have the brand mark surgically removed. Though the scar from Dorée's self-inflicted wound would remain, the cursed brand mark's removal will at least give her some peace.

"Of course, let's not forget about what she did when she first appeared," James said, and raised his hand before anyone said a word, "I'm not saying I'm going to arrest her. Even though I'm tempted to, but for Miss Nikos and Mister Arc's sake I will not pursue until otherwise. But I am stressing the point that what she did will have consequences, not just for herself, but for everyone else connected to all this,"

"She does care about others, Jim," Canus said, as he turned and began heading for the elevator, "What you don't get, is that it's just herself that she doesn't give a damn about,"

"Where are you going?" Glynda queried, while Canus didn't even turn around.

"Gonna check on the kid," he simply stated, "I'm sure she's bound to wake up after nearly a week of rest... and I'm willing to bet once she finds out she's in Beacon... well, somebody's gotta be there to fill her in on the details,"

The door opened and then closed as Canus stepped and pressed the down button, leaving Ozpin and half of his inner circle to sigh.

"You know...he's not completely wrong, Oz," James said, causing everyone to look at him, "We failed to change with the times, and our enemy used that to her advantage. If we're ever going to defeat her, we have to make changes. First, starting with Leo,"

Ozpin sighed at that, knowing that was true.

"We need to be careful, though," Qrow said, "If Leo catches any wind that we're on to him, he'll run... not to mention he has the key to the Spring Maiden Vault,"

"One step at a time, Qrow," said Ozpin before turning around and looking outside, "One step at a time,"

* * *

 _ **Team RWBY's Dorm**_

* * *

Ruby, her team, along with Ren and Nora were all sitting in their dorm room, all of them thinking of what happened one week prior.

Especially about a certain clone daughter from the future.

"Jaune and Pyrrha haven't left Dorée's side since we brought her back," Ren spoke up, "Despite the circumstances, it appears they accepted that she's their daughter,"

Everyone sighed at that.

"Must be parental instincts," Yang said, as memories of Summer entered her mind. "I should know, Ruby's mom was like that."

The little Rose saddened slightly at the thought of her mother, whom she'd could only partially remember, since she was only a toddler when she disappeared, including her famous cookies.

Ruby sighed before she brought out a familiar scroll and looked at the profile page of the said girl in question. As to why she had the scroll instead of Pyrrha? Well, it looks like both her and Dorée had a habit of losing something, without them even knowing it.

She looked at the birth date, and she blinked, "Hey, guys take a look at this," she said getting everyone's attention.

"What is it, Ruby?"

The students walked over to Ruby as she held the scroll, their eyes squinted at the spot that Ruby motioned to before their own eyes widened.

"Whoa," Yang stated, "Talk about timing,"

"Hey," Blake said, "That's next week isn't it?"

"Yes it is!" Weiss said, before a thought hit her, "Wait, where's Dorée's armor?"

"In our Dorm...," Nora said pointing toward the door, "...Jaune and Pyrrha took it there after we brought her back,"

"It's banged up pretty bad though," Ren added, "I don't think she can use it. And the combat dress is tattered,"

Weiss placed her chin on that, before a smirk formed, and pulled out a scroll.

"Weiss, who are you calling?" Ruby asked, while Weiss looked for a specific number on her speed dial.

"Looking for the right smith for the job,"

* * *

 _ **Beacon Infirmary**_

* * *

The infirmary of the Academy was quiet, despite the hectic chaos that happened the week before. While there were a few patients, which most of them were reckless students, the main topic of interest if anyone from a news company were there, was Pyrrha Nikos along with her partner and Team Leader, Jaune Arc, and the person in the bed, which they hadn't left her side since they brought her in. Said champion was sitting in the chair next to the bed, grasping the hand of the person who was -is- their child, as she watched Dorée sleep, breathing so softly they could almost barely hear her. Jaune was on the other side as he looked at the girl.

Her facial features were so much like Pyrrha's, but the hair was almost definitely all him, except for a good number of strands in her bangs which were colored the same shade of red as his partner's. He saw one strand fall out of place and onto her face, which, by instinct, made him reach out and brush the strand back into place.

Of course, the tip of his fingers accidentally brushed against the skin of her forehead, making her suddenly gasp softly, and grip Pyrrha's hand firmly, catching the two off guard for a moment, before they sighed in relief as she just calmed down and went back into her deep sleep again.

"Man...," Jaune managed to get out after that, "...I'm...I'm not sure what to say to her when she wakes up,"

Pyrrha looked at her partner and sighed, as her thumb caressed Dorée's hand.

"I know what you mean," she said, "It's been a week since this all happened, and I'm still having difficulty getting my head wrapped around it... my heart is telling me something else altogether,"

Jaune looked at his partner, blinking in confusion.

"And that is?" he said, and Pyrrha looked at him, as she smiled.

"To give her a chance... give us, a chance?," she said, while blushing at the end.

It took a moment for Jaune to understand what she meant by that, before his face was the same as Pyrrha's.

"Oh! Uh...,"

Damn. He didn't expect that at all. True, he got over Weiss at the dance, and after the dance, he and Pyrrha were getting closer, even to the point where he began to have feelings for her... which only grew after Canus told him how she died in Dorée's timeline... and as he thought about that, the more he began to feel afraid for her. Afraid that it could still happen.

He then looked at Pyrrha, now dressed in her school uniform, her hair still in it's ponytail, while her circlet still rested on her head. The sun was shining through the window, as it bathed her in it's light.

The Paladin then felt awestruck, as if the veil was removed from his eyes as he looked at his partner, as if she was something else, but not as a champion or any of the titles that the public gave her, and which made her feel alone. No, to him, she was something else. Before long, a smile formed on his face.

"You know what?" he said, making Pyrrha look at him, "I think that doesn't sound like a bad idea,"

Pyrrha's actually widened at that, but before she could say anything, a soft groan got their attention and they turned to the source, and their eyes widen even more, as Dorée strained herself, as her eyes struggled to open, before finally, they managed to do so.

Jaune immediately left to go get Professor Peach, while Pyrrha stayed with the awake, but still groggy girl.

"W...W-Where...?" Dorée said sluggishly, her vision a bit blurry after being asleep for so long.

"Easy! Easy...," Pyrrha said comfortingly, "...it's alright. You've been asleep for a while,"

Dorée looked at Pyrrha, her eyes slowly widening in surprise.

"Wa-...," what she was about to say died in her throat as she began coughing, due to not using her voice for a whole week. Reacting immediately, Pyrrha reached for the empty glass and full water pitcher on the small table next to the bed, and filled the glass up and handed it to Dorée, who welcomingly accepted it as she began guzzling it down.

"Easy, just take it slow," Pyrrha said, not wanting the girl to choke herself to death after just waking up.

Dorée did exactly that, as her guzzling slowed down. Jaune came back moments later, with the said school doctor herself. Peach immediately went to work as she began her checkup of the time traveler, once she finished drinking her glass of water.

"Alright Miss Arkos," she began, "I know you just woke up, but I want you to answer some things while I check you over, alright? Just to make sure you're one hundred percent functional,"

While not liking to be compared to a robot, Dorée, not wanting to argue, just nodded as Peach did the standard procedures, such as shining a light in her eyes, making her follow her finger, blood pressure check, heart rate, etcetera.

"Alright, everything checks out," Peach said, "Now let's check the bandage on your back,"

Dorée blinked at that, before remembering what she did in order to be rid of the Grimm placed there by Merlot, and thus let the doctor do as instructed, as she leaned over, while being supported by Pyrrha. She felt the bandage be peeled before feeling the school doctor's finger gently probe where she cut herself, though did give a slight wince, which caused Pyrrha firmly grip her shoulders in comfort.

"Hmm, the scar is not as bad as before." Peach analyzed, "Your aura did an amazing job healing it as best as it could after the surgery,"

The Arkos actually turned her head at that, a little unnerved at the word just spoken.

"S...Surgery?" she said, a little fearfully, remembering the last surgery, she endured before.

"Don't worry, you were under sedation during the whole process." Peach said comfortingly, "And all we did was remove what was left of that terrible brand mark. You didn't even feel a thing. I recognized the Merlot Industries logo, and I must say, Doctor Merlot was known to be ambitious and crazy, but THAT level of cruelty was just pure insanity! I can only hope that man is brought to justice for this, someday."

Dorée nodded, though was now slightly trembling, which Pyrrha held her a little tighter in order for Peach to finish.

"Alright, your check up is good," she said, "A strong heartbeat, steady blood pressure... you're all good. All you need is a little more rest and something to eat. After all, it's been seven days, since you were brought here,"

This time, the blonde/red haired girl's eyes actually widened considerably.

"What!? Seven days!?" she exclaimed, before she suddenly decided to look around, "Wait... where am I, exactly?"

"Hmm, why you're Beacon Academy's Infirmary Wing of course," Peach said, and that made Dorée's heart drop like a stone.

"...B...B...BEACON!?" she actually shrieked, but before she make an attempt to get out of the bed, and run away as far as possible, Pyrrha's grip on her became ironclad strong.

"No! Don't! Dorée it's alright! Just calm down!" The champion pleaded, "No one's going to hurt you, I promise!"

The poor girl began to hyperventilate as she gripped her future mother's arm in a death grip.

"N-No...can't be here... Ozpin... he'll...," Dorée began to stammer out between panicked breaths, her hands gripping Pyrrha's arm tightly, causing said Champion to wince as Jaune joined her in order to help calm her down.

"Calm down, Dorée! Ozpin's not going to do anything! He's trying to help you!" the paladin said, but Dorée just shook her head vigorously.

"No! He'll just use me! Just like my mother!" she exclaimed, her trembling getting worse and worse, as her eyes began to flame up with her Maiden powers. "I will _not_ be a chess piece in his sick game with Salem! I won't let him use me as a disposable pawn!"

"He _won't_ kid!"

Dorée actually stopped trembling at the voice that shouted at her, and looked up and saw a familiar face she hadn't seen since she left the future, albeit he was more younger looking, but she still recognized him. She also noticed he had his hand wrapped around Peach's wrist which was holding a syringe, no doubt a sedative.

"C... Canus?" she managed to gasp out, causing the man to sigh, as he let the doctor go.

"Yeah kiddo, it's me," he said, as he grabbed a chair and set it at the foot as he looked at Dorée, "You certainly caused quite the mess, last week."

Dorée's mind then remembered, before her eyes widened.

"Wait, the Fall-," she began to say, but Canus cut her off.

"Hasn't happened," he said, "After your little stunt, Ozpin and Ironwood managed to convince their respective councils, as well as Mistral's to postpone the last matches until further notice. So, in a way, you managed to prevent/postpone the Fall of Beacon, and instead replaced it with, what the media's calling, the Rogue Huntress Incident. Thankfully, no one aside from these two and everyone else has seen your face, and so your identity as the Rogue Huntress is safely classified,"

Dorée, having calmed down a bit, managed to release a relieved sigh at that.

"So what happened?" Canus asked, making the clone blink, before she frowned as she recalled what happened.

"The Grimm..." she said, and Canus nodded, but then blinked as he saw the look turned sombre. "...let's just say, after I was tricked in making me think I killed M-... Pyrrha, the next thing I knew, I was in a dark void. Heartbroken. Lost... I thought it was the end... but, then..."

The sad expression disappeared a bit, while a small smile etched onto her face.

"...Mom... left me a present,"

Pyrrha and Jaune blinked at that, while Canus' own eyes widened, before they softened slightly, while chuckling mentally.

' _Smart girl...,_ '

"She helped me regain control of my body, and I was able to remove the chip that was in my back," she said, and then glared as she gripped the hospital bed blankets, "That's how Merlot inserted the Grimm into me,"

Canus sighed while Pyrrha rubbed Dorée's back, as the girl's face turned solemn.

"Then... after that... Mom said goodbye and she...s-she," she turned to look at Pyrrha, who blinked before her eyes widened, now understanding what she meant. Before she could say anything, she was suddenly wrapped in a hug, before the girl began to weep again.

"Y...You said...were proud of me...," she said in between sobs, "...and that...I made you very, very happy,"

Pyrrha was stunned, but didn't say anything as she returned the hug, as the girl continued to cry. Jaune, seeing the scene couldn't help but smile, which had some sadness, due to the fact, due to the fact, that the Pyrrha from the alternate timeline was gone for good. He placed a comforting shoulder on Dorée's, as her crying began to lessen somewhat.

Canus could only watch the scene with a small smile. True, he knew that the scars on Dorée's psyche were still there... but with Jaune and Pyrrha there to help her, he had no doubt they would heal in time. However, there were some things he needed to talk with the girl about. After waiting a few minutes he cleared his throat getting their attention.

"Dorée, while I am happy that you're growing up and accepting the fact that these two are your parent, despite the fact you were born under... _complicated_ circumstances. There is the question I wanted to ask you, until you woke up," Canus said, before his face formed into a glare, which caused Pyrrha to place an arm around her shoulders, as Canus spoke with razor toned edged in his voice, "Where the _hell_ were you?"

...

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112:**_ _ **Uh-oh, looks like** **Dorée is in trouble. May God be with ya, my little Arkos child.**_

 _ **And another chapter bites the dust! And yes, I know, on another cliffhanger. I hope you all enjoyed, and please leave a fav, follow, or review! Remember, no flames or trolling.**_

 _ **Until next time...Later!**_


	11. Chapter 10 Gift and New Plan

_**Patriot-112: I'm back my friends! After a good break, I have finally returned! I have also been reading other fics, giving my gramps a hand with whatever he wants to build around the house, and busy helping others with their fanfic projects as well.**_

 _ **So, now that I have returned, let us continue shall we?**_

 _ **P.S.: Remember, no flames, trolling, or any other evil, twisted, insults I know some of you have in those twisted little brains of yours. You ALL know the consequences. Constructive criticism is welcomed, so there's no need to act like a dick. Okay, enough with that.**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 10:**_

 _ **Gift and a New Plan**_

* * *

 _ **Beacon Academy**_

* * *

Dorée looked out toward the west as the sun began to set, the colors of the autumn sky reflecting in her emerald eyes. Back in her old timeline, sunsets and sunrises were mostly accompanied by a blood red sky...but here, it was different. The sky didn't have a foreboding feel to it, instead it felt more peaceful.

More... serene.

She could only sigh at that, knowing how moments like this... Can be so fleeting.

Especially considering who was out there, plotting the next merciless attempt against the Academies, the Huntsmen and Huntresses, and all the four kingdoms.

Dorée knew that Salem would no doubt, and probably already has, sent out one of her minions to either scout out and, quite possibly, kill her.

Like she would give them that chance. Of course, the question was on who would she would send.

Arthur Watts was immediately struck from the list. The man was an genius scientist, with a big ego to boot, and not much of a fighter. Clever spy, yes, but worth risking to send out against someone like herself? ...definitely not.

Then there was Tyrian Callows, the ever big kiss up and, quite literally, insane Scorpion Faunus Assassin. The said psychopath, noted for his penchant for destruction and anything that had to do with killing, was not one for subtlety unlike Cinder, and will stick out like a Ursa Major in Vale.

So, the only option left for Salem?

Hazel Rainart.

Despite the man's incredible size and strength, Hazel was not stupid, or crazy, enough to blow subtlety and discretion out the window. Sure he had low tolerance for failure, but the man was considered more...level headed than Cinder, that's for certain.

Of course, as long as he kept his cool if he ever saw Ozpin...which of course is nigh impossible, considering the tragic incident with Gretchen Rainart, Hazel's little sister. Not as if the old fool didn't deserve it.

In some ways, despite him being a loyal follower of Salem, Dorée actually had more respect for Hazel than Ozpin, or any of the Green Wizard's little Inner Circle. In fact, she could relate to him, considering they both blame the immortal reincarnating fool for the loved ones, that they believe, he had sent to their deaths.

So if came to the point that Hazel wanted to smash that ignorant ass' head in and she was in between them...well, who was she to refuse his chance at justice.

However, that was where it ended. He made the mistake of joining Salem, one of the top three she blamed for her parents' deaths in the old timeline. So despite the respect she has for him, he was still an enemy.

As her thoughts moved from Salem's cronies, her thoughts then dwelled to the days following her awakening...especially a certain pissed off grey cloak wearing individual.

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

 _ **Beacon Infirmary**_

* * *

"Where the hell were you?" Canus growled slightly, his glare leveled at the time traveling girl, "Why the hell didn't you meet me at our agreed RV point, when you first came back here six months ago? I looked in at every safehouse incase you were at one of them but you weren't! Instead, I find out you went ahead against my advice and started hunting down Cinder's contacts and WF hideouts everywhere from here to Mistral, and by the time I get there you're already gone! And then... just when I thought everything was going to go the way it did before, you did the most stupidest and reckless thing, and ATTACKED MERCURY BLACK IN THE STADIUM RIGHT IN FRONT OF ALL OF REMNANT! What the hell were you THINKING!?"

Dorée actually managed to level a glare of her own at the Premonition-user.

"...I was taking apart the means for Salem to make war through the White Fang, and making Cinder blind!" she said, "And don't think about chastising me about being reckless! What gave you the idea of telling Raven Branwen, of all people, about me and my former problem!?"

"It was a contingency plan in case the Grimm Merlot put in you got control of you again!" Canus retorted.

"By having her KILL ME!?" Dorée retorted back.

"That was her idea, not mine!"

The two argued back and forth as both Jaune and Pyrrha, who had detached themselves from Dorée, watched them, being reminded of a family drama/comedy series.

"Uh, should we do something?" Jaune asked, he wanted to get in just to stop the argument the two were having, but on the other hand, he was being considerate of his health.

He then blinked when Pyrrha didn't answer and looked over and gulped, feeling a dark foreboding aura come over him.

The reason, being that Pyrrha's hair was shadowing her eyes, while her fists were clenched.

' _Oh man...,_ ' Jaune thought in fear. _'I have a REALLY bad feeling about this,_ '

The two kept arguing ignorant of the impending wrath about to befall them.

"Oh for the love of...!" Canus shouted as he facepalmed, "Stubborn, just like your father!"

"It's what kept me alive for so long, so I'll take that as compliment!" Dorée snapped back, "And who are you to talk, huh!?"

The older man just gritted his teeth angrily at that.

"Why you ungrateful little-!"

BAM!

BONK!

"OOOWW!"

"AIEEE!"

Both of them yelp in pain, as Canus received a punch to the face while Dorée received her own bonk to the head.

"That's enough you two!" both of them looked toward the source of the one who hit them, Canus holding his right eye, while Dorée felt a lump growing on her head. What they saw made them stop cold, their argument totally forgotten as they looked at Pyrrha, whose image now looked like that Demon, with her emerald eyes glinting dangerously, while her red aura glowed ominously, looking about to devour their souls if they so much as disobey her.

"You...," she said, looking to her future daughter, who, surprisingly to herself most of all, meeped in fright, "...you just woke up a week after your battle, and Professor Peach says you still need to rest!"

Dorée didn't say anything, greatly shocked, and terrified at this side of her future mother she didn't even know about till now.

"And you!" she growled, as she turned her attention to Canus, "I don't care if you're an acquaintance of Professor Ozpin or not! I don't want, nor will I let you, start an argument with Dorée that could possibly cause her more stress than necessary!"

The two could only look in shock at the apparent angry look on Pyrrha's face. They weren't alone as Jaune also had the same look, while also a little more terrified of his partner.

'Whoa... I'm surprised she managed to hide that when I told her about my transcripts and when Cardin was blackmailing me...,' he thought, '...Real fortunate she didn't aim at me, though,'

His thoughts were interrupted as Pyrrha continued.

"So I greatly appreciate it, that the two stop acting like spoiled little preschoolers!" she said, before she glared at them, "You got that, right!? RIGHT!?"

Dorée immediately complied as she nodded her head vigorously, not wanting to endure the glare of doom anymore...Fall Maiden or not. Canus meanwhile, while a little unnerved at the champion's rare display of actual anger, managed to calmly nod. Seeing the two nod, Pyrrha then took a deep calming breath before exhaling it all out, and her anger vanished.

"Well, now that's taken care of...," she said, before retaking her seat next to Dorée, while Jaune looked relieved that his partner was back to her normal calm self.

' _Note to self, don't make Pyrrha angry...ever!_ ' he thought as he stood next to her.

Canus, after her calm down, looked to Dorée, before fake coughing to get her attention.

"So, now that you prevented, and possibly postponed, the catastrophe that would have befallen Beacon...what do you plan to do now?" he asked her, and the young clone blinked before looking at her future parents who looked on curiously, and then to her lap.

In all honesty, she didn't what to do, except find Cinder and impale the bitch on a spike, but how to go about that, she didn't know. By now, she's probably back in the hole that is Salem's Castle in Drache, no doubt trying to think of way to salvage and replan on how to bring Beacon to it's knees. Not to mention, Salem must've felt that explosion of hatred and anger when she went Grimm, and would no doubt send one of her other cronies to scout her out.

Then, there is the fact that Adam Taurus was still alive, since his body wasn't found, and the White Fang who had been camped just outside the school grounds, waiting for the signal to attack Beacon, have now gone. No doubt ordered by Salem to do so.

So, in actuality...

"I...I'm not sure," she said, making Canus blink, "I mean, I know what to do, I just...I just don't know how to go about it."

She then gripped the covers of her bed.

"But, I know without a doubt that Salem knows about me now, and since Cinder is alive and report to her that I'm a Maiden...," she said, "...A Future Maiden, but a Maiden nonetheless, she'll send one of her own goons to get me,"

That caused Pyrrha and Jaune to tense in worry. Though they didn't know who this Salem was, the way Dorée spoke of her meant she was bad news.

Canus sighed again, knowing that what the girl he knew from the future said was right. Salem, though suffering a setback from Dorée's interference, will just lick her wounds and try again, and next time, be more successful. And that's what made her dangerous, she learned from her mistakes and the mistakes of others, and didn't want to repeat them again and again...unlike some old Green Wizard.

"Well, for right now, I think the best course of action for you right now, is to follow Peach and your Mother's advice," he started, making Dorée look a little uneasy at that, "And by that, I mean get some rest and some food in ya, and also, I advise not doing anymore hunting for Cinder for a good while. Like I said, everyone in Remnant saw your little stunt, and the Councils, with the exception of Vacuo, are not happy,"

Dorée rolled her eyes slightly at that. 'What else is new about those stupid Bureaucrats?' she thought rhetorically.

"So...," Canus continued, "...with the public now in a frenzy in wanting to know the identity of the unknown Rogue Huntress. I advise using your time to lay low and train up for any future encounters with Salem's forces."

He then stood up and proceeded to walk away.

"Oh, and also, talk to the two lovebirds.," he said causing Pyrrha and Jaune to blush, "I'm sure they're VERY curious in wanting to know more about their kid...even though she is a clone. Until then...adieu,"

And with that, Canus left the room, with only the two Partners and their child left alone.

"Soooo...," Jaune was the first to speak after a short moment of awkward silence, "Uhhh...where do we start?"

Dorée sighed at that as she looked at them.

"What's your favorite fairytale?"

* * *

 _ **Flashback end**_

* * *

And thus, she told them her full story, from the moment she was first aware of things, to being raised by a Pyrrha-possessed Cinder Fall, the harsh Huntress training she received, her inheriting their memories from the original timeline as a side effect of the cloning process, the day when she came to the past, the following six months after, and finally ending where she infiltrated the tournament and prevented Cinder and her posse from framing Yang.

When she had finished telling her tale, a part of her felt...relieved in finally telling someone of what she went through all her life. To say it was like a breath of fresh air, is an understatement.

Of course, to the two partners of team JNPR, they were mortified. Especially Pyrrha, since her future decisions and death would lead Jaune on a journey to avenge her, only to be later killed himself. For Jaune, he couldn't honestly imagine a life without Pyrrha, true he will try to happy for her sake, but hearing Dorée tell him of his memories, just gave him the terrible feeling that the possibility of losing Pyrrha forever, just proved to be more than he could handle.

Needless to say, from that day, the two were training each other to be better, while still making time to visit her during her recovery.

"Thought I might find you here,"

She turned her head slightly, and saw Canus approaching her. He was not wearing his cloak this time, and was actually smiling a bit unlike their last conversation.

"After I came here to this time, I always wanted to see how the sunrises and the sunsets of this timeline looked," Dorée replied, "Not only do they serve to help me relax my thoughts...but it actually gives me a brief view of what balance between light and darkness looks like,"

Canus nodded at that as he looked at the slowly setting sun, as dusk set in.

"Yeah...balance," he said, before sighing tiredly, "Too bad that category doesn't fall into the minds of most people. Especially Salem and Ozpin,"

Dorée clenched her hands at that. Two days after she left the infirmary, while she was with Pyrrha and Jaune as they showed her around the school, they... 'Accidentally' ran into the Green Wizard, and to say Dorée was NOT happy to see him was an understatement.

Before the old fool could even speak, she beat him to the punch, making it very clear, that she hated his guts with a passion, and to stay away from her, Pyrrha, Jaune, and their friends, and to look for someone else to be his sacrificial puppet. She immediately stormed away before he could make a comment.

"Ozpin is a still an old fool, despite what you've told him," the young woman snarled, "I doubt he will change ALL of his tactics. And like the fool he is, he recruits other fools...but at least some of them managed to see that Salem is changing how she plays hardball."

Canus could only look at the angry visage on the girl's face, and only sighed again, before looking at the new current attire she was wearing. He thus decided to change the subject.

"Ya know, while your old armor was alright, I'd say that new armor definitely makes you look more like your mother than anything, aside from the additions you added," he said, causing Dorée to look at him and blink in confusion before turning her head away again, a slight flush on her cheeks.

She still remembered what happened two days ago...on a day she thought she would forget till the end of her days.

* * *

 _ **Second Flashback**_

* * *

Dorée sighed as she walked through the halls...blindfolded.

"What exactly are we doing?" she questioned, as she felt the hands of Jaune and Pyrrha on her shoulders as they guided her through the school. She was wearing temporary clothes, which consisted of a gold colored turtleneck sweatshirt, a pair of knee length biker shorts, black stockings, and a pair of extra boots that Pyrrha had. Her hair was done in a side braid ponytail style.

"It's...a surprise that Ruby, Weiss, and the others put together for you," Pyrrha said, while causing Dorée to sigh at that.

"I'm not much a surprise person." she said, causing the two to frown sadly at the reminder.

"Yeah, we know...," said Jaune, before he smiled, "But trust us when we say that this is a surprise you're gonna like,"

' _I highly doubt that...,_ ' Dorée thought, as they arrived at Team JNPR's dorm room door. The champion reached out to knock on the door, and in no time, the door opened, revealing Nora, who smiled at seeing the future daughter of her two teammates and friends.

"Hey! Nice of you to show up!" the Valkyrie chirped. Jaune and Pyrrha only chuckled at their friend, while Dorée remained quiet.

"Is everyone inside, Nora?" Pyrrha asked, and the N of Team JNPR nodded enthusiastically.

"Yup, all present and accounted for!" she cheerily said, and opened the door wider and allowing the three inside.

"Hey there, Dorée," Ruby greeted, while the said time traveler blinked in recognition at her voice. "Sorry we didn't properly introduce each other after the whole...incident over a week ago,"

Dorée shook her head at that, "It's quite alright, Ruby Rose," she said, "In truth...I was hoping to not survive that night,"

This caused everyone inside to wince at that.

"Well that's dark...," Yang grumbled, only to recieve an elbow from both Weiss and Blake at that.

"Anyway, we asked Jaune and Pyrrha to bring you here, cause we had something made for you." the heiress said, "And... because it's your birthday and all,"

THAT info caused the blindfolded clone's eyes to widen in shock.

Her birthday...She had completely forgot all about it, considering the circumstances.

"M...My...," she tried to say, before shaking her head, and turning her head toward the floor, "You...you shouldn't have gone through all of that trouble for someone like me,"

"We wanted to...," Blake said, "If you hadn't of showed up, Beacon would've suffered a fate much worse than the one we know,"

"I was being selfish," Dorée retorted, "I-I don't deserve-OW!"

She would've continued had Yang not pinched her on the arm, and causing her to begin rubbing it to alleviate the pain.

"Enough of that, little girl," the Party Brawler said, "We spent a lot to get this done, due to Weiss' father being a jerk..."

Cue stink eye from said Schnee.

"...So regardless of what you say, you're getting this whether you want to or not!"

Dorée only glared at the Xiao Long, miffed that her fellow blonde pinched her, before taking a breath and letting it out.

It appeared they were not going to take no for an answer, so decided to accept what they got for her.

"Alright...," she simply said, and was thus ushered forward, before stopping at a specific location. She then felt the blindfold being undone, before the cloth was removed her from eyes completely.

After blinking the rush of the light away, her eyes then focused in front of her, before they widened.

In front of her, was a mannequin, but it what was clad on the mannequin that got her full attention.

It was a full set of armor, clearly resembling Pyrrha's armor, but it was definitely due to the fact that the torso armor was more of the steel variety instead of the bronze/gold like them the said champion wore. In fact the only part of the armor that retained the gold scheme was the leg armor, only it was more angular in design, rather than the more curve-style.

Also included was a more protective steel plated articulate gorget which protected the shoulders, and the area around the heart.

She then looked to the arms of the outfit, seeing the gauntlets from her old armor, both over the pair of fingerless opera style gloves.

The coup de grace of the whole set, was the belt wrapped around the waist, with multiple pouches for dust ammunition and such, and the golden half skirt attached, with her personal symbol stitched onto it.

Needless to say, Dorée was speechless.

When she inquired about what happened to her armor a few days prior, Pyrrha informed her that it was damaged beyond repair, which depressed Dorée a bit, since she designed and built that armor herself.

Seeing this new set before her, she noticed it was forged from the pieces of her old set, with the only thing to remind of her it, being her gauntlets.

She then carefully raised her hand toward the set, before placing it on the shoulder, her eyes carefully scrutinizing it, for any impurities, or other rush work...there was none.

"How...how did you make you this in such a short amount of time... And this adequate?" she said, knowing it would take YEARS to make an armor of this caliber.

"Well, Weiss got in contact with a Weapon and Armor Smith who made her Myrtenaster," Ruby said, "Apparently, his semblance involves metal manipulation, kinda like Pyrrha's Polarity, but slightly different,"

Weiss only huffed at that, while smiling, "Semblance or not, he's still got an excellent observation skill when it comes to metal work," she stated, while Dorée continued to look at her new armor in awe.

"We...also had this made," Pyrrha spoke up, grabbing Dorée's attention as she turned her head toward her future mother and spotted the object in her hands...which was an exact duplicate of Pyrrha's Circlet, only, the differences were that the chains for the ears were a stainless steel, and the jewels were two Rose Zicron stones...her birthstone.

She gulped as she slowly, shakily, reached up and took the headpiece from Pyrrha, and into her own hands, and looked at it. She then blinked as she looked at the brow, and saw her sigil.

It was...she didn't know what to think.

For her whole life, her birthday was something that Merlot told her was just another day that didn't matter and wasn't anything special, but her mother, in Cinder's body, spoke otherwise. Regardless, Dorée never actually truly celebrated her birthday, since, in her mind, she didn't deserve one.

But now, at this moment and time, she finally understood why a birthday was so important. And she was finally experiencing the feelings of what such a day felt like.

She clutched the piece to her chest, as her hair shadowed her eyes, making the other look at her concern, before she spoke.

"T...Thank...," she managed to utter, making the two teams blink in confusion before the time traveler rose her head up again, this time a smile on her face, as two tears streamed down her face. "T-Thank you...so much,"

That was all she said as she began crying in happiness, which caused Pyrrha to grab the girl into a embrace, while everyone looked on, all of them with smiles on their faces.

* * *

 _ **Second Flashback end!**_

* * *

That memory was one that Dorée intended to keep, from that day, until her last day.

But still, if Cinder, or her Queen, were anything, they were ruthlessly persistent in getting, what they believed, was rightfully theirs. And she knew that, in order to keep Jaune, Pyrrha, and their friends safe, she had to think of something in order to get their attention away from Beacon.

She then turned to Canus who was still looking at the sun.

"You know as well I do that Cinder will be back, don't you?" she asked, "And it will be with whoever Salem sends with her?"

Canus sighed as he nodded at that.

"Too true," he said, "Which is why we need to think of a plan in order to either strike her first before she even attempts a second infiltration, or shore up the defenses. Of course, Oz and the others screwed up the latter, while the former is a little suicidal since, half Maiden or not, she is still dangerous."

"Duly noted," Dorée replied, "But, I prefer we keep the fighting away from the school. I may hate Ozpin, but I won't put the others in danger,"

"Well, that's going to be a little tough," Canus pointed out, "Since their main focus is locked in the vault, and they won't rest till they get their hands on it,"

Dorée only nodded at that, "Yes, that damned, but powerful, old relic which is laying in the vault and the only one who could open it is either me, or...,"

She suddenly stopped herself as the thought hit like a dust plane falling on her face, before she turned back to the Academy.

' _That's it_!' she thought, ' _Idiot! Why didn't I think of it sooner!_ '

"I'm gonna steal it," she said, making Canus blink before turning to her.

"Uh...what?" he said.

"I'm gonna steal the Relic of Choice," she said before she began walking back toward the school, leaving the man standing there as he processed what the time traveler just said.

"Wait...HUH!?" he shouted before taking off after her, "No! Dorée, don't! It's crazy! No, it's stupid! No, it's CRAZY-STUPID! HEY! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME!?"

As he attempted to stop her from possibly the most crazy idea of the century, both of them were unaware of the familiar floating jellyfish type Grimm, which had heard everything that was just spoken.

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112: And done! A lot of hard thinking and motivation I put into this chapter! And I hope it was worth it! Please leave a review, and I hope to see you next time.**_

 _ **P.S. Dorée's armor is based on the early concept of Pyrrha Nikos by Monty Oum himself, with a few modifications on my part.**_

 _ **Until next time my friends! Ja Ne!**_


	12. Chapter 11: To Steal a Relic

_**Patriot-112: And here we are again my friends! Another chapter of Alter Zwei! And while you all read this, I'll be brainstorming the next installment of my AM: Alter series, Alter Drei. As for the overall plan, well you're all just gonna have to wait till it comes out. But one thing you're gonna know for sure, it won't be a Pyrrha-possessed Cinder who will be the one to raise the children. Yes I said children. Enough spoilers!**_

 _ **On with the show!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 11:**_

 _ **Stealing a Relic**_

* * *

 _ **Beacon Academy**_

 _ **Ozpin's Office**_

* * *

Ozpin was currently massaging his head, as his mug of coffee was sitting not too far away. The past two weeks have given him a massive headache, with the council on his back, Salem no doubt rethinking her strategy at this moment, and probably already has, and most of all...the future daughter of two of his students.

Canus was not kidding when he told him that she hated his guts with a burning passion, due to the fact that his decisions, which were prevented by the girl's rather rash intervention at the tournament, had caused her so much grief. Especially being denied the right of actually being a human, rather than as a test tube baby. Her anger definitely reminded him of Hazel in a way, but unlike Hazel, she was able to keep herself from maiming him.

Didn't mean she was his number one fan.

Of course, hatred for him aside, what was peculiar was the fact that she is the Fall Maiden of her time. And what had Canus had said during the time Miss Arkos was recovering from her ordeal...

* * *

 _ **Flashback - Almost Two weeks ago**_

* * *

"I see...," the Headmaster said, musing on what Canus just informed him, while James, Glynda, and Qrow, were both gobsmacked, though Qrow didn't show it, as he just took a long swig from his flask.

"She's the Fall Maiden of her time!?" Glynda asked, while Canus nodded.

"Yup," he said, "And before you start asking me how it's possible the power could exist here in the present time, let's not forget, Dorée's from an alternate future. And if you're worried about two sets of the same power, coexisting in the same timeline causing an imbalance, Oz, don't be. When my semblance sent me back here, I immediately sensed for any disturbances and looked for any signs that an imbalance is in play. Nothing's happened as of yet, so we can play it cool for now, and if there is, you'll be the first to know,"

Ozpin sighed at that, "Still, if what you told me about her personality is true, then she might've shown Cinder her true identity as a Fall Maiden. From what Miss Nikos told us, she tried to do something to Dorée before the...Grimm inside her took temporary control and beated her back," he said, before looking a James.

"Speaking of which...did your men find the chip in the ruins?" he asked, and James sighed.

"Nothing yet," he said, before frowning, "But I do know this, since it was Merlot who was the one that created something that could graft a piece of a Grimm onto a human like that, I believe it would be best to destroy it, then let it fall into Salem's hands,"

"Something we can _both_ agree on, Jim," said Qrow, before shuddering slightly, "I'm scared to even imagine the thought of our Queen of Darkness getting her hands on that thing and using it to one day create a army of Grimm-Human hybrid warriors,"

Everyone shuddered at the idea of that.

"Back to the situation with Miss Arkos," Glynda said, "If Cinder knows her identity as a Fall Maiden, and since she's still alive, what is to stop her from informing Salem?"

"She probably already has, by now, Glynn," said Canus, "The Flame Bitch's not stupid enough to withhold information from Salem of all people. The question you should be asking, is what can we do to make sure Dorée doesn't end like Amber in that damn tube?,"

Everyone flinched at that, especially Ozpin as he considered it one of his greatest failures in not preventing the ambush on Amber.

He certainly understood one thing however, he wasn't willing to let what happened to Amber ever happen again. Despite the 'second' Fall Maiden having a deep seeded grudge against him.

"For now, it's best if we let her rest," he said, "And despite their inexperience, and the recent circumstances, Miss Nikos and Mister Arc are possibly the only ones who have the best chance of keeping her calm when she wakes up. They're her parents after all,"

Canus then gave Ozpin a pointed look, "And what will happen once she sees you?" he said, "There is still the possibility that she would rather stab you in the eye than accepting any form of help from you,"

Ozpin groaned softly at that, "I'll cross that bridge when I get there. In the meantime, I have to deal with the Council regarding what people are calling the Rogue Huntress Incident,"

Canus sighed irritably at that, "Great, politics...though, I like the name. Better and less ominous than The Fall of Beacon,"

Everyone tensed and silently agreed with that logic.

* * *

Flashback End

* * *

After that meeting, and managing to convince the Council that the said Huntress' whereabouts were currently unknown, he had James to check the systems of the CCT, and his own robots, as Canus had pointed out among the important parts that happened in the old timeline. Another thing that was taken care of as well as placing Neopolitan, in a secure prison cell, along with Mercury Black who was left behind after the incident.

Then, Dorée woke up, and like Canus warned, she was not happy to be in Beacon at all. Luckily Canus was able to calm her down, but then the ANCIENT professor remembered four days later when they ran into each other in the hallway leading to the cafeteria...

* * *

2nd Flashback - 4 days ago

* * *

Dorée looked at Ozpin, her eyes cold as ice and sharp as knives. If looks could kill, the Headmaster of Beacon would be six feet, times ten, under the ground. Watching this was Pyrrha and Jaune, as both partners could only look in worry at the glare that their child was giving.

The said immortal knew that look all TOO well, since he had been on the receiving of so many in the past, including one giant of a man who lost a sister who went against her brother's wishes and joined Beacon, only to perish months later.

"Miss Arkos, I know you hate me, but understand-,"

"Save it," She bit out, cutting him off, "I don't want hear any bullshit excuse you have in that damn head of yours. Be thankful that they're here, or else this could've been very, very messy. Just know this, and I expect you to follow it...STAY. AWAY. Pyrrha, Jaune, their team, their friends, their families...stay away from them, don't get them any more involved into your damn war with that Grimm Queen bitch than you have already have."

Dorée's eye narrowed even further, as the Fall Maiden powers manifested around her eyes.

"Do the exact opposite...and I will not hesitate to flat out castrate you with the same power you tried to burden my mother with," she finished with a cold growl, which served as the que for Pyrrha to walk over and place a hand on her right shoulder.

"Easy, Dorée. Let's just go alright," she said calmly, as Jaune came up to her left.

"Pyrrha's right, let's just keep heading to the cafeteria," the Paladin enforced, wanting to get Dorée as far from Ozpin as possible, before a fight started.

Dorée, though still wanting to rip Ozpin a new one, and not wanting to be in the man's presence any longer than she already was.

With a stiff nod, the three moved around Ozpin, giving him a wide before continuing to their destination, leaving the man alone to think on the young woman's words.

* * *

Flashback End

* * *

Normally, you would think that a man like Ozpin would feel insulted by the words that the time traveler just said to him. But, unlike other men, Ozpin knew he deserved that one.

He got too many inexperienced students involved in his personal war with Salem, and learning that they would've been all killed in the future truly made him feel that playing defensive all the time was not the right way.

His thoughts were then interrupted as the alarm on his desk sounded. Immediately alarmed, he tapped his desk, before a holoscreen appeared, showing where the alarm was coming from... the vault. But it was who was in the vault that his eyes widen, as he watched as she walked toward the back of the room, before stopping at Amber's pod, looked at the comatosed Current Fall Maiden for a moment before moving on...Canus' words repeating themselves again in his head, and the possibility of why they're down there.

"Oh no...,"

* * *

 _ **3 hours earlier**_

* * *

"Dorée...listen to me for one. Minute," Canus said, as he looked at the girl as she checked her Aurea Mors, "What you're planning is nothing more than stupid and suicidal! Not only would you have Salem and her whole League of Doom breathing down your neck, but Ozpin will no doubt have James chasing you all over Remnant once you take the Relic!"

"I know," Dorée answered, as she placed the long sword and shield on her back, using her semblance helping to keep it place, "That's the whole idea,"

Canus facepalmed, "Gods Dammit you're making the same mistake as Pyrrha did in the old timeline! If you go through with this Dorée, you ARE going to DIE!"

"So...?" Dorée said nonchalantly as she checked on Chrysós Mílos, before turning to Tékno Xífos, "...At least everyone else is safe, including them,"

Canus just looked at her when she said, "Don't tell me you still-?"

"I do," she said, "Though, I am happy that they accept me, the truth is that I can never erase the memories of the old world, and my actions before I left,"

"That was the Grimm, not you!" Canus argued, "And don't change the subject! I won't let you put yourself into more danger than you already have after what you did at the Festival!"

"...I figured you would say that," she said, causing Canus to blink in confusion before...

FWAP!

"AGH!" the man yelped as he felt a sting on his neck, causing him to stiffen slightly, "What the hell!?"

"I knew there will be a day where you will try to stop me, Canus," Dorée said, "So I acquired a set of tranq darts, filled with the strongest quick acting sedative in Remnant. Just for you,"

Canus growled as he reached up and carefully removed the dart from his neck, before dropping it on the floor.

"You...devious little...," he groaned out, and immediately saw that Dorée was right as his vision began to swim, and seeing double of the said time traveler. He reached out his hand toward Dorée as she stood up, her reserve weapons in her hands as she looked at her Caretaker who looked after her after the tragic incident back in the old future.

"Don't try to fight it, Canus," she said, a slight somber tone in her voice, "It's best to just let it run it's course,"

"Dorée...don't...do this!" Canus said, as the drug was making it difficult to speak full sentences now.

"I won't say I'm sorry for this," the time traveler said, before Canus dropped to his knees, "After all, I still want to pay you back for bringing that two-timer for a Spring Maiden into this,"

Canus fell forward before using his hands to stop himself, as he looked up at the Arkos girl. He then reached his hand out toward her before grabbing her armored shin.

His vision got more blurry, before his body failed him entirely as he finally fully collapsed on the floor of the room that was given to her to stay in, which was not far Team JNPR and RWBY's own dorm rooms.

"You're...making...a...mistake...," was what Canus managed to gasp out before he finally passed out, and his grip on the said limb went slack.

Dorée sighed at that, "You may be right," she said, before moving around the knocked out man, and out the door, "But, it's the only option I have,"

* * *

"We haven't been able to find Dorée all day," said Ruby, a look of genuine concern on her face, "Where do you think she went?"

"Probably needed some time to think, Ruby." said Weiss, as she gave a sigh, "Before I came to Beacon, whenever my father would lose his temper...which is a lot, I always look for a quiet place to get away from him and think. Of course, I'm not comparing my father to you Jaune and Pyrrha, in fact, from what me and the others saw, you two get along well with her,"

Both of the mentioned future parents only sighed, "We're not offended Weiss," said Jaune, "However, we know the possible reason why she wanted to be alone,"

"What was it?" Nora asked, and it was Pyrrha who answered.

"Ozpin," she said, and everyone gave an understanding 'Oh' at that.

"Well, that explains a lot," Ren said, "I can imagine she was not happy to see him,"

"You have NO idea," Jaune said, remembering the incident well, "She even threatened him to castrate him if she spotted him anywhere near any of us,"

Everyone winced at that, even Ruby surprisingly...hey, she may be innocent but she's not THAT ignorant!

"Ye-Ouch... and I'm not even a guy," Yang commented, "I bet Ozpin felt a little embarrassed,"

"Truth be told, he actually took it well," Pyrrha said, remembering the somber but collected look on the Headmaster's face, "Of course, Miss Goodwitch was furious and tried to teach her a lesson...didn't end well, though,"

All of them looked at the lovebirds, who still blush at said nickname, at that, fearing the apocalypse.

"Oh crap, what did she do?" Nora asked, and even she knew better than to cross Goodwitch.

"You guys heard what happened in the combat training arena?" Jaune asked, and everyone gaped in horror.

"Wait...THAT'S what happened!?" Weiss said in shock.

"Aw man! I can't believe we missed that!" Yang griped, "We were out on mission clearing any remnant Grimm still in the area after that whole fiasco two weeks ago!"

"To able to cause that amount of damage...," Ren said, complete awe, and a little fear in his tone.

"Whoa..." was the only thing that Ruby said, as they arrived at their dorms, "I knew she was strong, but to be able to go against Goodwitch like that! Makes me glad she's not a bad guy,"

Everyone nodded at that, as Jaune opened the door to Team JNPR's dorm room and he and his team walked in, only for the two to stop in mid-step, having spotted two familiar objects on their respective beds.

"Wait, are these...?" Jaune began as he and Pyrrha picked up the objects, which they recognize as Chrysós Mílos and Tékno Xífos, the former was on Pyrrha's bed, and the latter on Jaune's. Ren and Nora, also spotting the familiar weapons, looked at them curiously.

"These are Dorée's weapons...," Pyrrha clarified, as she held CM in her hand, "...but why are they-?,"

Her question was cut off, before hearing they heard the door slam open, revealing Canus who stumbled in but managed to keep himself up. He shook his head to get rid of the dizziness before looking up at the gathered team, in which the look on his face made them feel a sense of dread.

"...W-We got a problem,"

Before anyone could ask, the PA system sounded, and Ozpin's voice was heard, with panic laced in it.

" _Attention! Professor Goodwitch, Team JNPR, and Team RWBY please report to the Tower immediately!_ "

* * *

 ** _Vault of the Relic of Choice_**

* * *

Dorée walked out of the elevator and entered the great hall section of the Relic Vault, thankful to her mother's memories she had from when she visited the Vault.

You'd think that Ozpin would've had a different password to put into the Elevator's security system instead of his favorite brand of coffee of all things. She rolled her eyes at that as she walked forward, and it was not long before she spotted the machinery and life pod, containing her predecessor, Amber, within.

She stopped at the pod, and looked at the current comatosed Fall Maiden, before raising her gauntleted hand and placing it on the glass, wincing at the scars on Amber's face where Cinder used that damn Parasitic Grimm to steal half of her powers.

Her face was neutral, but inside she burning with rage, since this was a result of Ozpin's arrogance, laziness, and docility. The man could've found a more experienced huntress who would bond with the previous one, but instead, she was an inexperienced child. Or he could've had an experienced huntsman or huntress act as her bodyguard, but he didn't do that either, citing the excuse to keep as less people as possible from knowing about the Maidens, the Relics, and the true origins of Humanity and Faunus kind in the dark.

Well, apparently Salem didn't give two shits whatsoever, and now look what happened.

Dorée sighed, knowing she could've prevented Amber's situation, but her desire for revenge made her focus on crippling Cinder's ability to spy and gather 'allies' for Salem, however, that only served to have Cinder immediately replace them, further revealing that the ashen haired flaming bitch was well prepared. Hence why she decided to derail Cinder's directly at the Vytal Festival and confront her herself.

She looked at Amber's face, before she decided to speak.

"Sorry I was not there to prevent this from happening to you," she said softly, "But know this, even if you can't hear me, I intend to amend my mistakes, and bring down the bitch who did this for good. You have my word on that,"

With that said, she then proceeded to walk around the pod, and bypass the machinery toward the back of the hall.

It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for. That being the door, to the second part of the Vault.

Only one good thing came from acquiring the curse that is the Fall Maiden Powers, and that was having the memories of the previous Maidens before her, including the woman who took everything from her. She can still remember when Cinder, in her usual pompous self, after torturing Oscar Pine, AKA Ozpin's new body, for how to get into the vault, strolled back into the place that made her into the abomination that she had become, which her mother was forced to inhabit.

As for the vault that Ozpin designed for the Relic of choice, he basically made three defense measures, separated in three chambers after the one she was currently in, to make sure it would be not be made TOO easy for anyone who somehow managed to steal the Fall Maiden's power. Basically, the three challenges were based on ancient tasks, long before the Kingdoms even were even founded, and focused on the Human psyche.

The first, being a test of bravery. In essence, face your enemy.

The second, a test of conviction. Meaning, face yourself.

Third, a test of confidence. Translation, face your worst fear.

While she felt sure of herself that she could pass the first test, with no problem, while struggling a bit with the second, it was the third she knew will be the most difficult. She had a LOT of fears, and almost ALL of them were ranked up there as her worst. So, in essence, it could be anything...fear of rejection, fear of abandonment, fear of failure, or even fear of losing her newly acquired family.

But, she knew that whatever fear she would have to face, she would cross that bridge when she got there.

She shook her as she arrived at the wall, before looking left and right, before closing her eyes in thought as she accessed Cinder memories during her time as the Fall Maiden.

"Hmm, now, if I remember correctly...," she said, as walked to the right, placing her hand on the wall, gliding it across the old stone, "...the door to the first task should be...right...,"

She then suddenly stopped before her eyes snapped open and the orange flames of the Fall Maiden light up around her eyes.

The wall then suddenly glowed as lines glowed around the area where her hand rested, until they formed the outline of a door. And in the center of the door, was the symbol of the Kingdom of Vale, with a red maple leaf behind it.

Dorée allowed herself a small smirk.

"Found you," she said, and the door began to open as old locks, that hadn't been unlocked in centuries, did so with strained groans, and gears clunked as the stone doors opened forward, slowly before finally stopping. Dorée then took a breath, before releasing a sigh.

"Alright, time to get this over with," with that said she began to walk through the doors...

Before the sound of the elevator doors made her perk up, and snapped her head back toward where she came in.

"Hurry! She's no doubt found the door, already!"

The familiar voice of Canus caused Dorée's eyes to widen in shock, before they narrowed.

' _Dammit! I thought I had more time!_ ' she thought, before she turned back to the door. Needed no other incentive she bolted inside, before stopping to turn around.

Raising her hands her hands glowed the familiar black, as she willed the gears to go the opposite way and close up, with her in it.

The said parts groaned in protest, before they relented and began doing exactly that. Of course, that also caught the attention of the apparent pursuit that came to stop her.

"Dorée stop!" she opened her eyes, as it was none other than Pyrrha who called out to her, with Jaune, their teammates, along with Canus, Ozpin, and Glynda, who were running in her direction.

"I have to do this!" she shouted to them, "It's the only way to keep you safe!"

"No there's has to be another way!" Ren shouted hoping to put sense into her.

Just as the doors were about to close, with enough space to see out, she began to notice that the gears were beginning to slow down, and she realized that Pyrrha was using her own polarity to reverse it.

Seeing she had to act fast, she then focused on ripping the gears out of the wall, as she gave a hard tug with her polarity glowing arms. And with a loud snap, the gears came out of the wall and landed on either side of her.

"Dorée, this is nuts! Just stop!" Jaune called out to her pleadingly, but Dorée only shook her head.

"I can't," she said, while breathing slightly in exertion, "This has to work,"

"Not if it puts your life in danger!" Pyrrha screamed out, half of her face seen through the crack, as her visible emerald sheds a tear.

"I have no life," she said, as tears of her own started to form,"I never had one. It was taken from me before I could even see or talk,"

"But you have a new life, now! With us!" she heard Ruby's voice shouting, and she could actually imagine the pleading look on the young girl's face.

"And how long will that be till I lose it, Miss Rose?" she questioned, "No. The only way to make sure none of you are harmed, is by removing the thing that caused Beacon to become a target in the first place,"

"That's insane!" she heard Weiss shout, "That'll just make you the target!"

Dorée gave a sad smile at that, "Exactly," she said, stunning everyone, "I wish I could enjoy the last two weeks we had together...I admit, it was...healing in a way. But, I don't belong here, my existence is no longer valid, and thus everything from the original timeline has to be erased...including myself."

"NO!" Pyrrha screamed as she pounded on the door, "You're still here! You haven't disappeared! That means you do exist! Please, don't go!"

Dorée didn't say anything at first, only turning her back away from the door, and toward the path that would lead her to her final go. She then said one word as the tears finally broke through.

"I'm sorry," with that said, she proceeded to run, leaving a screaming Pyrrha calling her name, and for her to come back. Only for it to fall on deaf ears

* * *

 ** _Patriot-112: And another chapter done! I have to say, this short story has come a good long way...well, not as good as others but still good overall. _**

**_If any of you are Mortal Kombat fans, you would recognize what the Three Black Tower challenges._**

 ** _Also, if any of you wish to do a reaction story to this, be sure to ask me for permission, and if you're too busy, I completely understand._**

 ** _Until then, Auf Wiedersehen!_**


	13. Chapter 12: Face your Enemy

_**Patriot-112: Nothing much to say here, except enjoy the read, and be sure to leave a review, like, and follow when you're done.**_

 _ **P.S.: Constructive Criticism is allowed, no flames, trolling, or cyberbullying. Otherwise you'll just get blocked. For those who are polite and courteous, I thank you.**_

 _ **P.P.S./Disclaimer: RWBY belongs first to Monty Oum, second Rooster Teeth, and therefore is not mine...so all you critics and lawyers hush up!**_

 _ **Now, onward!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 12:**_

 _ **Face Your Enemy**_

* * *

 _ **Outside Vale**_

* * *

Hazel Rainhart was many things, one being intolerant of most things that have to do with failure, but a man of manners, and once upon a time...a loving brother.

However...if someone placed him in the same room with a certain Green Wizard, and then all reason goes out the window.

The mere thought of the man who caused his little sister's death made the giant of a man growl in anger as he clenched his fists. He wanted nothing more than to end the old fool, so no more children end up like his sister. True, Gretchen, who, rather stubbornly, made her choice in wanting to become a huntress, despite his numerous refusals to let her do so, Ozpin had to give her and her team the one mission to a remote mountain village, located not far from the infamous Mountain Glenn...and it was the mission where they never return from alive.

He shook his head to will away those painful memories, as he focused on the current mission that was given to him by the Queen...and that was finding, observing, and if possible, capture the girl who was responsible for Cinder's failure at the Vytal Festival. He arrived in Vale, not a few days after receiving his orders from Salem, and already the girl had gained notoriety as the Rogue Huntress, especially considering what she did to Cinder's currently incarcerated second apprentice, Mercury Black, and the humiliation she dealt to the Atlas soldiers and their robotic toys.

He had to admit, the girl was quite skilled, both with her weapons, and her fists, but he also saw that she was rather rash, as she attacked Mercury right in front of ALL of Remnant.

And what he heard from the report from Cinder was any indication, she had a rather radical protective personality towards the Mistralian Champion Pyrrha Nikos...to the most extreme point of being suicidal, while also sporting a distrust, and apparent loathing for Ozpin. One similar to himself.

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard the familiar clicking of the Seer, and turned and spotted the Jelly-fish type Grimm appear from the shadows of the Emerald Forest, and float toward him before stopping.

Hazel sighed, before turning and looking at the creature of darkness.

"Well, what did you find?" the giant of a man gruffly said, and the luminescent center of the Seer glowed brightly, before shadows encompassed it, until it revealed what it saw and heard, as Hazel watched and listened intently, blinking slightly at the now revealed girl's anger at Ozpin, and the man, who he didn't recognized, speaking to her and asking what she planned to do...which the girl responded, which shocked even the giant of a man.

"Girl's brave, I'll give her that," he said to himself, before sighing sadly as he shook his head, "But very foolish,"

He then looked at the Seer.

"I assume Salem knows this, already?" he said, and in response, the Seer's orb like visage changed from the two, to the said Grimm Queen herself.

" _Indeed I have, Hazel,_ " Salem clarified, while a smirk formed her face, " _And this will definitely work to our advantage._ "

"What will you have me do then?" Hazel asked.

" _Wait for her to retrieve the Relic, and let her leave as far from Beacon as possible_ ," she instructed, " _When she is alone, approach her with an offer she will no doubt cannot refuse...,_ "

Hazel blinked at that, "And what will that be?" he queried, while Salem's smirk only grew.

" _A chance at a rematch...,_ "

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile - Beacon Vault**_

* * *

"Is there any other way in or out!?" Weiss said, as both teams tried to get the door open, with not much success.

Nora even tried using her hammer to break it down, only for the said weapon to bounce back and hit her in the face...thankfully her aura protected her.

"The only other way is a secret exit passage that was installed incase something like this would happen," Ozpin said, knowing he was actually the one who personally added that little passage, but not that anyone knew that, "Unfortunately it will only open once she has the Relic, which will be a problem in itself."

"Why the heck is that!?" Yang shouted before punching the door, though it still didn't budge, and it gave her was a sore hand, "And what's with this damn stupid door!?"

"The answer to the second question Miss Xiao Long, that door is made up of a special stone with a steel layer, meaning it's impossible to break through it," the Headmaster said, before sighing, knowing this will no doubt have them questioning about his origins, "As for the first one, let's just say I set up a series of traps incase something like this happens."

Everyone looked at the professor at that.

"Wait...you set up?" Ruby said.

Before Ozpin could answer, Canus cut in.

"It's a long and complicated story, Miss Rose," he said, "One Oz and I will be happy to explain to you all soon...but first, since the front door is now kaput, we gotta get to the back door...,"

He then turned to Ozpin as he continued, "...Unless of course you moved it, Oz,"

The headmaster sighed at that, "No, it's still in the same location, the only problem is that it's well camouflaged and we won't be able to see it until Dorée retrieves the relic." he said.

"Well what are we waiting for, then!?" Jaune said urgently, as he grabbed a hold of Pyrrha, who had a frantic and grief-stricken look on her face, "Pyrrha, I know you're scared about her, but I promise you one thing, we WILL get her back! But I want you focus, for me, okay?"

Pyrrha didn't say anything, as her tears continued to stream, but she managed to nod, before Jaune drew her into a comforting embrace to calm her down as he turned to the Headmaster.

"Where is it?" he said, flat and simple.

"The place where that all of you are familiar with...in the ruins of the Emerald Forest,"

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile, with Dorée**_

* * *

A small flame lit the path, as Dorée ran down it, while her mind replayed, what could possibly be her last conversation with the woman who would, hopefully, in her new future, ber her real birth mother, instead of just being born in a tube.

She could still feel the ache in her heart as she remembered Pyrrha's cries for her stop echoed in her head...and a large part of her wondered if she WAS making a mistake like Canus warned her. That if stealing the Relic in order to lure Salem and her minions away from Beacon and focused entirely on her, would only just delay the inevitable...

She shook her head vigorously at that, stamping out the feeling.

No! It had to work! It WILL work!

She had made her bed, and now she'll lay in it. And with that thought in mind she continued on...until spotting a glow not far away.

She increased her pace, not intending to stop till she reached what she knew was her first challenge.

As she drew closer, she slowed herself down so she could see the glow being that of a dull yellow color, and coming from a symbol on the large door, which looked to be made of iron. Finally stopping, she looked up at it, and she saw it looked to be a Mistralian Eastern dragon in circle*.

"Well. That's a rather obvious way to symbolize a challenge," she said to herself, before she walked up to the door, pausing for a moment before she raised her hand and placed it on the door.

Clank!

She jumped back at the loud sound, before the sound of chains being drawn, and just like the door that opened before, it split down the middle before opening forward away from her, revealing the room on the other side. It looked to be a large platform, with four pillars on the outside, along with two bridges, with one on her side, and one on the other. Taking a chance and looking down below, she could see the multiple spikes on the ground, as well as the multiple skeletons scattered about.

Danger senses on high alert, Dorée cautiously began to walk forward, her hand near her longsword, Aurea, while her eyes scanned the room, before suddenly torches began to light, illuminating the area.

"Kukukukuku...so you have finally come... Invincible Girl's brat,"

Her eyes shot wide open, while a dark chill went down her spine as she heard that familiar voice, but the last time she heard it, the voice was younger. This time, the voice was older, and more familiar to her. Though, unlike the last time, where the tone was sincere and caring...this tone sounded more sinister, and devious.

"...N-No...it can't be...," she managed to whisper out, before the familiar sound of glass shoes clinking on the ground were heard. A clinking she knew all too well, as a familiar figure came out of the shadows in front of her.

They were dressed in a dark red dress, with gold highlights, with a wide long sleeve on the left arm, while a grey long glove with a gold ring at the top is on the right. The dress is split on her right side, with interwoven gold tassel ropes, with a rhombus shaped jewel with blue feathers decorating it. However, the main thing she was focused on, was the short ashen-black hair, the single right glowing amber eye, while the left side was covered by a black glass mask.

The person gave Dorée an snide smirk, as she looked at the girl who looked as pale as a sheet.

"My, my, Dorée," she spoke again, "You look like you've seen a ghost,"

That one line managed to snap Dorée out of it, as her face formed into a vicious snarl.

"How!?" she snapped out, "How are you here!?"

The original Cinder Fall gave another chuckle as she proceeded to walk forward.

"Poor, silly, foolish little girl," she said, "When you killed my original body back in the old timeline, it wasn't just your mother who sealed herself away into your subconscious...but I tagged along as well!"

Dorée's face formed into that of total disbelief.

"No...that's impossible! Mother and the Geist would've noticed you!" she said

Cinder's signature smirk never left her face as she proceed to walk around her.

"Yes they would've," she said, "But, I have learned not to rush things. So, I dug myself a deep burrow into your mind...so deep that they would not find me until the time was right...and now that time is here! Since your hatred for me is so strong, the magic of this vault has chosen me to be your opponent!,"

Dorée growled as she drew Aurea and readied her shield.

"I thought you would never ask," she said, before entering her as the older Cinder looked at Dorée with a nostalgic smirk.

' _Oh the memories_ ,' she thought with a sick sense of fondness, before doing something that surprised the daughter of Pyrrha and Jaune as she formed a flaming glass sword. "Ha ha ha ha, not expecting that were you?"

Cinder continued to chuckle as she moved forward, "Apparently, the magic of this place decided to give me a second chance, returning to me the power I once had before...more than enough to beat you and be reborn into this world,"

Dorée looked at the former Fall Maiden in shock, and cursed Ozpin again for this.

' _Is there ANYTHING that old fool hasn't screwed up with!?_ ' she questioningly accused, before shaking her head, and decided to just get it over with, as the flames of the Fall Maiden ignited in her eyes, as well as Cinder's solitary amber eye.

A few seconds passed, before as one, they sprinted forth, and the duel between the two began as Dorée's sword clashed with Cinder's glass flame one.

"This is my opportunity, Arkos!" Cinder said with a sneer, her single eye boring into Dorée's own eyes, as the two deadlocked, "You fail this challenge, your body will be MINE! First thing I'm doing...killing that Silver Eyed Bitch, then her team, and finally, your failures for parents-*SMASH!*- AGH!"

Cinder recoiled from the unexpected headbutt she was given as she gripped her nose before glaring at Dorée, who looked at her with a cold look.

"Just shut up and fight, you arrogant bitch,"

Cinder growled at that as she formed two swords with her power. The two women then charged at each other again as they fought one another, both of them determined to win at any cost.

* * *

 _ **Elsewhere**_

* * *

Two figures were hidden in shadow, as the sounds of armor being donned were heard.

"She should be facing the first challenge, now," a male voice said, while a familiar sword slid into a sheath with a resounding click.

"Yeah...," the second figure, a woman clarified, "...which means it's time for us to intervene,"

The first figure nodded in agreement before a white/gold trimmed gauntlet reached up and gave the female figure's shoulder a gentle grip.

"Hey, it'll be okay," he said, "We'll get her, and bring her home,"

The female figure said nothing, before a nod could be seen. The two finished with outfitting themselves, before they left the darkened room and outside, heading towards a specific destination in mind.

* * *

 _ **Back with the present Cast**_

* * *

"You're kidding me right?" Weiss questioned as they stood in the same exact spot that where their objective, which were chess pieces of all things, for their initiation into Beacon was. "It was right under our noses during that day?,"

"Well, considering that if something were to happen, I believed it was best to give you all a clue to go to," Ozpin said, while Canus smacked his forehead and the students looked at him with a deadpan look.

"Right...," Blake said, with some skepticism.

"So, what now?" Jaune asked, and it was Canus who answered.

"Now, we wait for Dorée," he said, and that's what they did.

However, they were unaware of the Seer that was watching the gathered group, or that it was being watched through it's link to more of it's kind.

* * *

Hazel growled as he spotted the familiar form of Ozpin, barely able to keep his anger in check.

" _Calm yourself, Hazel,_ " Salem said with a firm tone, " _Acting rashly will surely bring about failure._ "

The giant did exactly that as he took in deep breaths in order to calm himself down.

"Forgive me, Your Grace...," he apologetically grounded out.

" _One day, your time will come Hazel...,_ " Salem said, " _...but for now, focus on the current task you were given_ ,"

Hazel nodded, before looking at the Seers translucent visage, as his eyes landed on the grey cloaked man with Ozpin and the student hunters, before they narrowed slightly in curiosity.

" _Ah, Canus...,_ " he heard Salem spoke in a rather, almost, endearing tone, ". _..if he is here, than that means that his premonition semblance warned him of the future,_ "

The eyes of the bitter brother blinked curiously at that.

"You know him?" he asked, and Salem sighed wistfully.

" _An old friend from the past_ ," she said, " _Like me and Ozpin he reincarnates in other people, but the difference between him and Ozpin, he reincarnates in infants who would've been stillborn, and has them live to old age, while Ozpin does it with those who are in their teens, and slowly takes over the hosts mind and body in time destroying them in the process_." Hazel's eyes narrowed at that, as Salem continued, " _They used to work together till Ozpin became all arrogant, and Canus broke off from him, in order to fight me in his own way...and he has done well thanks to that Power of Premonition of his. Don't underestimate him, Hazel_ ,"

Hazel nodded before looking at the image again, trying to find ways in how to deal with the Premonitioner.

* * *

The entire chamber was alight with flames, and filled with the sounds of clashing swords.

For the first time in her life, Dorée was fighting someone who was giving their all towards her, which she returned with her own. For the entire time since their fight started the two Maidens had not been able to land a fatal blow on each other.

Lighting and fire flashed between them as their weapons and powers struck together in a savage dance of death, matched almost perfectly as Dorée would cast off a blaze of Maiden fire, only to be absorbed and bended back towards her by Cinder, as the Maiden blocked the strike with her shield before rolling away as she fired once more at her opponent. This time firing a lightning bolt that grazed the Grimm arm, causing Cinder to shriek in pain, which Dorée noticed as she looked at the older woman.

"Didn't you anything learn from your battle with Raven?" she said, "Aura cannot protect your arm, it's Grimm,"

Her predecessor's response was a fierce glare, not wanting to remember that night where she failed Salem, all thanks to that Bandit bitch.

"Shut up!" she yelled, "I don't need a lecture from you!"

Dorée returned the glare, before gathering up a fireball.

"You're right about that," she said, "Which is why you're gonna die down here...permanently,"

Cinder's face turned into a snarl as he formed her own fireball.

"I will not die down here!" she shouted, as she and as the clone fired off their attacks. The older Maiden then charged through the flames with two swords formed and clashed with Dorée's own yet again.

"It's you who will die! Just like your mother when she made the foolish decision to challenge me!"

Cinder then blinked as she saw Dorée's face grimace, before it formed a smirk.

"Oh, that's right." she said, "You saw it for yourself since you have her memories! Well, you'll probably remember how I shot her in the heel and mocked her in how I took the power that old fool Ozpin planned to give to her! And then how I shot her through the heart with my arrow and burned her body to ash! Of course, not before I destroyed her reputation, when Emerald tricked her into killing that toy from Atlas!,"

Dorée's teeth gritted, as she heard more and more, how Cinder destroyed her mother, not only physically, but her memory as well.

"I must admit how fun it was destroying the image of the strong, honorable, and sweet, Invincible Girl," Cinder continued, as she chuckled, "I remember finding out that her own famil-,"

"SHUT UP!"

With that single scream, a fist encased in burning metal hit her square in the face and sent her flying into a pillar, and falling down flat on her stomach.

After shaking the webs from her mind, Cinder looked up, but only found her face grabbed in a vice-like grip, before being lifted up and felt herself being slammed into the pillar repeatedly.

"YOU! WILL! NOT! GO! NEAR! HER! AGAIN!" the girl screamed each word as she slammed Cinder into the stone, while said previous Maiden was now struggling to get loose. After the slam fest she then tossed the scarred across the room, flinging her hard enough that she bounced off the floor a few times.

'Dammit!' Cinder groaned as she struggled to stand up, but only managed to get to her knees, before hearing a familiar sound, causing her to look up as Dorée, via the flames on her feet, came at her at high speed, arm and hand raised in a palm thrust, and glowing a familiar blue, before she delivered said thrust to the older Cinder's face, and sent her toward over the edge of the platform, her glass mask shattering and revealing the scar that Ruby Rose inflicted upon her years ago.

As she tried to use her power to get back up and not fall to her apparent, she noticed the figure of Dorée standing on the edge, with a look of cold fury on her face, as she raised, as the familiar blue glow appeared again, causing Cinder's eyes to widen.

' _No...No not again! This can't be happening to me again! Not when I'm so close!_ ' she shouted, before feeling the familiar cold, as ice traveled across her body. Deja vu was playing it's part, as the memories of her first major failure came back to haunt her again.

She leveled a glare at the clone, who had taken away her chance to be reborn and destroy those who had brought about her downfall in the original timeline.

"You may think you won, girl! But know this! I'm nothing but a pup compared to Salem!" she shouted as the ice reached the based of her neck, "If you somehow, by some miracle, manage to get passed my younger self and the others, what hope would you have of beating her alone!? ASK YOURSELF THAT!"

The ice then completely covered Cinder's whole head, and the now frozen maiden, plummeted toward the bottom below, before the sound of shattering confirmed what Dorée wanted to hear.

She stood there, silent as the grave, as she took in what happened...before realizing what she had done.

Feeling something wet on her face, she reached up and wiped it off before looking at her gloved hand. Then she noticed the salty smell, and realized instantly what it was...her tears.

She closed her eyes as her hand formed a fist, before releasing a shaky sigh.

It was a few more minutes of silence before she finally said something.

"Mama...Papa...I did it,"

The moment she said that, the familiar sound of doors opening, and chains rattling got her attention before looking in the direction of the second bridge. Taking a deep breath, before letting it out, she proceeded toward the open door, her thoughts on the second task.

' _One down...two more to go_ ,' she said, as she walked across the bridge and through the doors, which shut themselves soon after.

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112: And done! Finally, that took me forever! Sorry it took so long everyone. My gramps and his construction projects around the house, and a bad case of Writer's Block hit me good. Not mention I've just started participation in a Social Vocational Services group, reason being because of my Asperger's Syndrome, which is a social disorder.**_

 _ **But enough of that, I know some of you have probably figured out who the two 'mystery' figures are, but please for the sake of the story, and those who don't, tell me via PM.**_

 _ **Right, anyway, be sure to leave a review, and what you liked most about this chapter. And also, don't forget to check out my Arkos Child Challenge forum.**_

 _ **Until then, see ya later!**_


	14. Chapter 13: Face Yourself

_**Patriot-112: You all know the drill as before.**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 13:**_

 _ **Face Yourself**_

* * *

 _"You DO realize that once you do this, there is no coming back?"_

 _"We know that, but we don't care. She needs us,"_

 _"Dorée made her choice, and she paid with it with her life! And you want to make her sacrifice meaningless?"_

 _"We're not going back then to die, Canus! We're going back there to give her what she was denied...that I denied her cause of my foolishness,"_

 _"She already prevented that!"_

 _"Yes, but after...that battle we cannot conceive a child... Not to mention the tensions between the Kingdoms is reaching a boiling point again, and hostilities could erupt at any moment, and Salem would use this chance to get what she wants,"_

 _"*Sigh*... Why do I always get the stubborn ones?...Alright, since you're so adamant, go ahead, but be warned, once you go back, this future will cease to exist and you'll be trapped back in the past with no way to come back."_

 _"It's not like we had anything to come back here to, anyway...,"_

 _"...Canus...Canus?...Canus!"_

* * *

Grey eyes snapped open before they looked at the people who were looking at him with concern. He blinked confusedly before sighing again.

"Godsdammit, here we go again," he growled before he proceeded to sit up.

"What the heck just happened to you?" said Yang, who looked freaked out, which Canus could understand, "You suddenly just collapsed and started muttering something we couldn't understand."

Canus looked at the group of students, and for once, and he hated it, decided to pull a half Ozpin.

"Uhh, nothing important," he said as he began to get up, "In fact, you'll find out soon enough."

That caused the students to blink in curiosity, wondering what the heck did he meant by that, while Jaune and Pyrrha both felt a deep sense of foreboding at the premenitioner's words.

With Ozpin, he knew what had transpired, since he knew him for so long and actually saw it happen countless times, and could only mentally assume what happened twenty minutes before, when Canus suddenly passed out in front of them, while they were planning on how to stop Dorée. It meant he saw the future again, and from his posture, it couldn't be good.

' _No doubt the timeline is changing again,_ ' he thought, ' _But how, is anyone's guess_ ,'

* * *

 _ **With Dorée**_

* * *

She had been walking for a good half an hour now, the path before her covered in mist so thick, she couldn't see the ground, so she had to walk slowly in order to avoid possibly falling into a pit. How this mist got here she didn't know, but that wasn't going to stop from getting to the Relic and removing it from this place.

" **You really think that taking that relic from here would protect them?** "

At the sound of the disembodied voice, she gripped the handle of Aurea, as she looked around, her eyes narrowed at the question spoken to her.

" **Do you honestly believe that just moving it away from here would make _Her_ not target the school again**?"

Dorée only glared at the voice as she kept proceeding onward. Which elicited a growl from the voice

" **Fool! You're smarter than this! You think that Salem will just ignore the Kingdom of Vale and Beacon while she focuses her resources on you? It won't work! Salem is too smart and devious to fall for something so obvious, it's not even funny!** "

She quickened her pace, wanting to get away from the voice as it pounded into her skull...Only to then feel a hand grip her arm.

"DON'T IGNORE ME!"

Dorée's eyes widened slightly at the sound of her own voice, before she slowly turned...and came face to face, with her own image, in her old armor, as it glared harshly at her.

"You're making the same stupid mistake Mama made in the old timeline!" Her doppelganger yelled as her grip tightened harder, "And who do you think will suffer the most because of this decision? _They_ will!"

Dorée didn't answer for a moment, still shocked at seeing a mirror image of herself, before her expression then hardened and she yanked her arm out of her double's hand.

"And I suppose you have a better plan?" she asked rhetorically, "Cause the way I see it, this is the only way!"

"Oh grow up!" Mirror Dorée said, rolling her eyes, "You're only doing this because you still feel like you're an abomination like that prick Merlot told you, and are still in denial that they love you! And you believe that by doing this, Salem will send her strongest to fight you...and possibly kill you!"

Dorée gritted her teeth at that, "That's not true!" she growled.

"It is, and deep down you know it."

With that, Dorée snapped as she drew Aurea from it's scabbard and lunged at her Mirror-self who drew her own, perfectly exact, version of her said weapon.

And thus the second Challenge had begun.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile**_

* * *

Raven Branwen was not a happy camper...and that is putting it lightly. The reason for said current bad mood? ...Well, she got her ass handed to her by a girl possessed by a damn Geist with a REALLY twisted personality. And right now, after waking in a hospital room in the LAST place she wanted to be, with the brother she still shared somewhat of a bond with, she learned what happened after the said possessed girl knocked her out.

Apparently, the girl had a genetic implant chip, somehow containing faint traces of Grimm, that made her turn into either the vicious Beowolf-like Berserker, or the Geist-like psychotic lunatic. The latter she fought and was beaten by, all because she was stupid enough in not going all out on her. Oh, and let's not forget, she was practically the FALL Maiden from her timeline!

But that's deviating from the story, as right now, as Raven placed her Odachi back in it's sheath, and tested the revolving mechanism which contained all of her other dust blades, in order to make sure it was still working. Once she was satisfied that it was still functional, she placed the weapon set on the magnetic clip on her belt, and proceeded to leave the room she was in...

...only to be stopped by a voice she knew all too well.

"You planning on leaving again, Rae?"

She stopped and looked over her shoulder and spotted none other than her ex, former team partner, and father of her child, Taiyang Xiao Long. Said teacher of Signal Academy having arrived after being told by Qrow, as well as watching the 'incident' that happened on the television. Needless to say, despite all the heartbreak she gave him, he treated her rather well, such as making up her favorite flavor of tea, despite it not being as good, but not terrible, and making sure she didn't try to do anything reckless, like chasing after a certain clone and chopping her head off.

"Don't try to guilt trip me into staying, Tai," she said stoically, "You know it won't work on me,"

Taiyang gave a tired sigh at that, "I'm not gonna try to," he said as he gave her a frown, "It's your choice whether you want to come back or not. I just hoped you stayed long enough to give me and Yang an explanation on why you left to begin with,"

Raven sighed at that, "You know my reasons Tai," she said, and the father of her daughter only returned the sigh.

"I know you trained at Beacon in order to counter Huntsmen and huntresses in order to defend the Tribe that raised you and Qrow," He said, making Raven blink, but quickly understood that Qrow told him, "As well as the fact you tried to distance yourself from Yang for reasons that are...somewhat known to me,"

Raven gave a 'tft' at that, "What would that be?"

Tai sighed, as he moved behind her.

"One, you didn't want her to live the life of a bandit...," he began, while the Bandit's leader's eyes narrowed, "Two, you believed that me raising her would help in curbing that infamous temper you both have...which was somewhat successful,"

Raven actually sighed at that, ' _Definitely the bane of my life back in my Beacon days,_ ' she thought, before smiling slightly, ' _And it looks like the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree._ '

"And three, despite what you might, or might not, think or say...you still care about her, and me," he finished, and Raven looked at him with a deadpan look.

"You really believe that?" she said, and Taiyang shrugged.

"Well, Summer believed it," he said, and Raven frowned slightly at the mention of her old teammate.

"She always did believe in the best of people, didn't she?" she asked, "Even me?"

Tai sighed again, before reaching out and grasping Raven's shoulder causing her to tense a little.

"She never hated you Raven...she always saw you as a sister." Tai said, "Though, she was disappointed that you left after Yang was born, she's not one to hold a grudge."

The swordswoman only shook her ruefully.

"Naive to the end," she said, and received a nod, though she didn't see it.

"Yeah...but was loyal to a fault," he said, before, reluctantly, removing his hand from her shoulder, which made her feel a tad disappointed. "So, you're going back to the Tribe?"

"Not right away," she answered, "Apparently, something that has Ozpin and those kids running all over the place. Including the girls,"

Tai blinked at that, "What?"

* * *

 _ **Back in the Vault**_

* * *

Clash of steel was heard as Dorée and her doppelganger continued their catfight, as her sword slammed into the copy of her version of Pyrrha's Akouo, only for the said weapon to be deflected away.

"Go ahead! Keep making the same stupid mistakes all over again!" the Doppelganger shouted, "You're only proving me right!"

"SHUT UP!"

The swords clash as their wielders glared at each other.

"Why should I!? You know I'm right! If you continue down this path, the same thing will only repeat itself...only our parents will be the ones who will suffer," the double said, which caused Dorée already high anger soar even higher.

"Then what the fuck do you propose I do then!?" she shouted before pushing the Doppelganger back, "What do I have to do in order to make sure they survive!?"

She charged at her again, and delivered a shield bash that dazed the Doppelganger. But Dorée didn't attack, instead she stood where she was as the double shook her head to get rid of the dizziness

"Go on! Tell me how to prevent the disaster permanently!" she shouted, but the double just looked back at her. "TELL! MEEEEE!"

The illusion said nothing as it looked at her, and it was quiet for a few moments until the apparition finally spoke.

"You can't...," she said, shocking Dorée, and then continued, "...no matter how many times you do it...it'll just keep happening until either they're dead, or yourself,"

Dorée's head bowed at that, as she processed what was just spoken to her. That didn't help her one bit, seeing it was a lose-lose situation.

But... she still understood that she was no longer needed here, and her old timeline was gone. Thus, she had no place to even exist. But if she died so that they could live, that was fine with her.

"I still stand by my decision...," she said as she lifted her head, "...I'm going to make sure they live. Sure they'll mourn for me...but they'll use this to get stronger and be prepared for Cinder when she shows her damned face again. Sure, I'm making the same mistakes as Mama did...but that's why I exist, to give her a second chance at the life she RIGHTFULLY deserved to have... happy with Papa. As long as they live, that's fine by me,"

The Doppelganger said nothing as she stared at her with a blank face before she sighed.

"You really are determined to see this through, aren't you?" she asked, and Dorée gave a nod.

"Yes,"

The doppelganger closed her eyes as a light enveloped her as she began to dissipate away.

"You passed the challenge," she said, and opened her eyes and looked at Dorée with a said smile. "But know this, like your mother, you'll live to regret that decision."

As soon as she finished, the doppelganger disappeared, and the sound of another door opening got her attention as she looked and saw the said doorway, opening up as dust crystals lit the way.

Wasting no time, she continued on her way to retrieve the relic and get it as far away as possible.

"Two down...one to go," she said as she walked through...however, the sliver of doubt that she began to feel before, had begun to grow.

* * *

 ** _With Team JNPR & RWBY, plus Ozpin and Canus_**

* * *

"Uuugggh man, how much longer do we have to wait?" Yang grumbled, feeling edgy as they waited for the wayward clone to show herself.

"Calm down, Yang," Blake said, "We've only been here for an hour."

"You know how bored I get when waiting, Blake," The blonde brawler retorted, before scowling a bit, "I hope Dorée is ready for a butt whoopin', cause she's gonna get it for making us wait this long,"

Weiss sighed at her teammates impatience, "Yang, you do realize we're in the middle of the Emerald Forest right? A place that is crawling with Grimm, and where we had our initiation?,"

Yang shrugged at that, "Yeah," she simply said.

"Soooo, why don't you take your frustrations out on them, instead of Dorée? I doubt both Jaune and Pyrrha would entertain the idea of you picking a fight with their future daughter," she finished, and Yang blinked before she looked and saw said Knight and Spartan each giving her a disapproving look.

"Whoa! Okay okay, sorry!" she said defensively, "Man, this parent stuff has gotten you into overprotective mode times ten,"

"Yang!" Ruby protested before looking at the two, "She didn't mean that honest!"

The two only sighed at that.

"It's alright," Jaune said, "She's not completely wrong. Though I don't like the idea of giving her a beating as a punishment, she will get a serious talking to when we get her to stand down,"

"If, she stands down," Pyrrha somberly intoned, making everyone turned to her, "She's like me in so many ways, even has my stubborn determination when it comes to completing a task."

She then chuckled lightly, "It's funny... here I am, a girl still in her teens, and still in school, talking about their daughter who will not be born in another thirteen years. I must've mentally aged somewhere down the line,"

"Hopefully, she'll have the chance to actually be born instead of being stirred up in some tube," they heard Canus say before they looked to said man, who had a expression between a scowl and a frown, as he looked up at the two partners, "It's not just her you need to protect, you need to protect yourselves as well. If anything happens to the both of you... Well, let's just say it will really drive her into a more self-loathing state than usual."

"Then we'll protect them as well!" Nora shouted drawing the attention of everyone to her, "Pyrrha and Jaune are like family to me and Ren when we formed Team JNPR! And that makes Dorée a part of our family as well! Right guys?"

Both Jaune and Pyrrha blinked at that, before Ren stood up and placed a hand on the Valkyrie's shoulder.

"Nora's right, a team is a family, meaning you two don't need to do it alone all the time," the green ninja said, while giving one of his soft smiles to his team leader and teammate. "You're not getting rid of us that easily,"

Both Jaune and Pyrrha were quiet for a moment before the two actually began to chuckle at that.

"Thanks Ren," Jaune said, "It's nice to know you and Nora still got our backs,"

Pyrrha nodded her agreement.

"Hey! What about us!?" whined Ruby as she gave a childlike pout, "We may be different teams, but we're still best friends right? And you guys, along with Team CFVY, helped us out when we were surrounded by Grimm during the Breach, so we still owe you!"

"Yeah!" Yang said as she pumped her fist, "You can consider us stuck with you guys! Someone's gotta make sure you don't do anything too crazy."

"And for once... I actually agree with Yang," Weiss said.

"Looks you're not getting rid of either," Blake said.

Jaune and Pyrrha looked at their sister team with fond smiles, happy to have such great friends in the all female group.

"Thank you...all of you," Pyrrha said in gratitude.

Watching the scene, Ozpin only smiled as he watched the bond between the two teams grow stronger. Yes, he made many questionable decisions in the past, many of them leading to things he will regret later on. But, there was always one thing he was extremely proud of. The trust and camaraderie in his students.

"Well Ozzy, I gotta admit," said Canus, "Despite all the mistakes you made, this surely isn't one of them,"

Ozpin could only sigh at that, "You're never going to let it go, are you?,"

"Nope." he said flatly, "You're gonna be stuck with my trolling ass for the rest of our immortal lives you old coot,"

The Headmaster gave the grey cloaked man one of his rarest glares, "Look who's talking," he said.

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112: And finally done! Dorée now has one final task to perform before she finally has the Relic of Choice in her grasp... to face her WORST fear. What will that fear be? Well, that's for you guys decide in the review section. Also, already started on the third installment of the Aurea Mors Alter series, as well doing a restructuring of Warning from the Future, the latter mostly to keep it up to date with the current Volumes, including V6 coming up in just TWO. DAYS!**_

 _ **So, yeah, I got a lot of work on my plate. Of course, the constant distractions by my grandfather will make it even harder to get it done. But, I know that I will get done.**_

 _ **Until then folks, later!**_


	15. Chapter 14: Face your Worst Fear

_**Patriot-112: Hello my good friends. Here we are...the third and final challenge that stands in Dorée's way...so, no time for further discussion, let's get this show on the road.**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 14: Face your Worst Fear**_

* * *

 _ **Somewhere in the Emerald Forest**_

* * *

They ran through the forest at a desperate pace, both of them determined to get to their destination as quickly as possible.

All the while, with one of them, an old wound from their past begins to emerge in their mind...

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

 _ **1st POV**_

* * *

I still think about that field...everyday...

There were bodies everywhere, as well as extensive damage from the battle. All of them, White Fang, Atlas soldiers, even people from that Criminal Syndicate, sent to capture the one whom I most desperately wanted to save above all else...

I walked toward one body before I pushed it over on it's back. Their eyes were open, but they were rolled back and vacant, giving the sign that this once living person was dead. Whether out of pity, or respect...more of the former than the latter, I closed their eyes before I continued my search, looking from body to body, but not finding the one I'm looking for...all the while, the rain that had just started pelted me and the surrounding began to get heavier.

...I didn't know how long I looked, but I didn't care...I wanted, no, NEEDED to find her!

After passing one body after the other... I began to give in to the hope that she may have escaped...and I had almost stopped looking...

But then...I turned, and laying there, still, on the ground, clad in her armor, her sword not far from her, coated in blood...was the one I searched for months, with no signs of breathing, as a puddle of blood formed around her.

"No!" I scream, as I rush to her side, "No!"

I went down on my knees as I looked her over...Praying that she was still alive.

I looked at the wounds...the one especially in her chest...

...It was no use...she was not breathing, and her heart had stopped beating altogether...she was gone.

My heart shattered...followed by a single sob from my throat, as I place my hands on her face, weeping...praying to anything that she would wake up from her now eternal sleep.

But my prayers went unanswered...and I lay there next to her, even as the rain continued to pour on...

...

...She never got older...and here I am, still.

Who decides such things?

* * *

She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the horrible memory and focusing on the now. They now had a second chance...they were going to give her that second chance. And nothing, not even Salem will stop them this time.

"We're almost there!" said her male companion, "We just might catch her!"

The two continued their dash through the woods, not letting anything stand in the way of reaching their goal.

* * *

 _ **Back at the Temple Ruins**_

* * *

"Ugh! It's been hours!" Yang grumbled irritably, "What is she doing down there?"

"Miss Xiao Long, the Vault of the Fall Maiden is not like any normal vault," Ozpin spoke up, getting everyone's attention, "It's protected by a powers that people have long forgotten about."

"Like what?" Blake asked.

"...Magic, little kitty...," spoke up Canus, making them turn to him, as he leaned against a pillar, "...Magic...like from the old fairy tales."

"Like...what Doree told us...?" Jaune asked, and looked at the Headmaster who closed his eyes, "...right?"

"That's correct young Arc," Canus replied, and then turned to Ozpin, "However, I'm curious Oz. Just what are the traps you made for the Vault, anyway?"

Ozpin looked at Canus, and the students who had also taken an interest, before he took a deep breath before answering.

"They're three challenges, mostly based on the human psyche," he said, "Courage, Conviction, and confidence. The first, is facing her enemy in battle, the second, facing her own doubts about herself, and finally...facing her worst fear,"

That caused Jaune and Pyrrha to stiffen while their eyes widened in realization and horror. And they weren't alone.

"Wait...what was the last one?" Canus said, his voice holding a frightful tone.

* * *

 _ **With Dorée**_

* * *

She looked at the large assortment of crystal stalagmites and stalactites all around her, all of them of varying shapes, sizes, and colors. She thought at first glance that these were dust crystals, but a closer look at the large stones told her otherwise, seeing that these were just normal crystals.

Though, that didn't changed the fact that they were beautiful.

"..."

She stopped and blinked in confusion...was that a voice she just heard?

" _...Do you believe in Destiny?_ "

Her blood ran cold at those words...ones that haunted her ever since she was but a toddler.

She then shook her head vigorously.

"No! No, that's not happened! It won't happen!" she said, and continued on, "I stopped Cinder...even if I didn't kill her, Salem would lose all trust in her. And even if she does try again, I'll be ready,"

" _...you foolish little thing_ ," She stopped upon hearing that voice, and snapped her head in the direction of where it came from, which was a violet crystal, but, it was what she saw in the crystal that made her blood run cold, "You really think, that they would accept you, once they find out what you are?"

Dorée's closed her eyes as she tried to block out the voice of the man that was commissioned to bring her into the world. But it was difficult.

" _They won't! You were created in a tube to serve one purpose: to fight and die to preserve Remnant and all that live in it...nothing else!_ " the ghost of Merlot sneered, " _What do you think will happen when they find out about you, and how you were created? ...they will shun you, despise you, experiment on you, and quite possibly even kill you!_ "

She gritted her teeth at that, while clenching her hands into fists.

" _You know I'm right, Dorée. The world would treat you no better, maybe even worse than the Faunus were treated! Hell, the Faunus will definitely join right in, because they will see you in the same way as Humanity, because unlike you, they were all born naturally!_ "

Smash!

Dorée's fist impacted with the crystal, causing it to break into tiny pieces.

"I don't care what you say anymore, old man," she growled, "Don't think your words would hurt me anymore,"

With that she proceeded forward, as more voices began to be heard. Many she recognized.

" _You're just a mess of genetics with the memories of two people...you were never their daughter!_ "

" _How can something like you be a child of Pyrrha Nikos? You're nothing but a freak!_ "

" _You're not my Little Brother's child...you're a monster, a thing!_ "

" _Damn you! Just die already!_ "

" _You're a worse freak than those Faunus animals!_ "

" _And Humans call us abominations...you're even worse!_ "

Dorée's heart was continuously pierced by every barb shot her way, as the spiteful statements continued. All the while trying to mentally remind herself that what she's hearing is just the test of the vault.

' _It's not real...it's not real...it's not real...it's not real..._ ,' she thought over, and over again, as she continued through the tunnel, but the voices kept getting stronger and stronger.

" _You think all the good things you do will make you look human in the eyes of everyone. Keep dreaming, Tube Baby,_ "

" _You will never be accepted by anyone, let alone your so-called parents._ "

" _Demonic Spawn, the Church of Oum demands your death!_ "

" _Let's just kill it already!_ "

" _Kill it!_ "

She nearly lost her balance, but managed to catch herself, as he panted heavily. Her eyes glistening with tears, but she refused to shed them, determined to complete the task she set herself on. Thus, she continued on forward, till she spotted what looked like a light at the end of the tunnel.

"F-Finally...," she managed to gasp out, "I'm...I'm almost there...,"

" _How could I...?_ "

She then stopped at the sound of that voice. The voice who had earlier had pleaded for her not to go, was now tinged with such malice.

" _How could I have accepted you as my daughter, when you're just a mix of mine and Jaune's genes meshed together in a tank_ ,"

That one actually made her wince, as she fought to keep down the tears and beat down the heartbreak.

" _It would've been better if we had killed you in your sleep. Then, we would've tried for a_ real _daughter,_ "

She heard that familiar male voice, and actually felt a tear slide down her cheek and thus continued onward, though her feet were more sluggish.

" _You think all the deeds you accomplished will make us adore you? Ha! Don't make us laugh!_ "

" _You're not worthy of the name Arc, let alone Nikos! You're just a lab rat created for battle, that's it!_ "

She collapsed to her knees as she bent over, and dry heaved as the abusive words continued, her eyes now stinging with tears.

"I..." she managed to somehow croak out, "...I...I don't...I don't CARE!"

The voices suddenly stop at that outburst.

"I don't care...what you really think of me...as long as you're happy, then that's fine!" She then proceeded to slowly stand back up, "But if you think...that I'm just going to take it...lying down...then you're trash talking to the wrong person,"

She then continued on her walk as the exit drew closer and closer.

"I'm going to keep fighting Salem...immortal bitch or not, she's not immune to pain...she may have the Grimm as her Army...but as they say, even the mightiest armies have a weakness that can be exploited...her strongest lackies are either bat shit crazy, or just have a short fuse whenever that pathetic fool Ozpin shows his face right in front of them..." she stopped a inch from the door as she gazed into the light, "...I still will probably not make it out of this alive...but I do know, that this will hopefully wake that reincarnating son of a bitch up to reality, trust those who he is suppose to lead, and actually grow a pair! But if he doesn't...then to hell with him! But... at least do me this one request:..."

She then stopped to take in a deep breath of air, before she spoke again.

"...don't die...not until after you've had children of your own, and watch them grow to become what they chose to be. Watch them build their lives, and their families, while you grow older, and become doting grandparents...and finally, when you approach the final moments of your life, with your family all around you...then, you can die. That is what I want most for you...don't waste it." With her peace said she took one step into the light and proceeded through as it enveloped her, "Thank you for listening...and goodbye."

With that she walked into the room...all the while, her reacquired scroll's recording light was blinking.

* * *

 _ **Back at the Forest**_

* * *

" _Seriously_ , Oz!?" Canus shouted as he grabbed the Headmaster by the front of his suit, "You actually created something that would show a person their worst fears!? Are you crazy!?"

"I had to protect the Relic from Salem, Canus..." Ozpin tried to say, as he attempted to free himself from the man's grip but the grey-streaked man was not having any of it.

"Do you have any idea how much of a relapse that Dorée would no doubt develop when she comes out of there you cocoa-sucking numskull!?" Canus actually screamed, "This will undoubtedly set, what those two kids have done in order to heal her mental scars, back to square one! All because of another one your brilliant ideas!"

Everyone could only look on as the two looked at each other. Canus with a furious expression, and Ozpin trying to remain calm, but wincing as the grip on his shirt tightened.

"I'm sorry, Canus," was all Ozpin said, before Canus threw him to the ground. His glare mixed with that of disappointment.

"I've heard you say that so many times, I don't know if it's real or not," he said before he turned around, "And just like all the other times before, another child is going to die all because of your mistakes in the past. I hope your mission is worth the deaths of children... _Ozma_. Cause to be quite honest with you...I wished _they_ should've been the last children to die in this war between you and Salem,"

The old Headmaster's eyes widen in both shock and horror when Canus spoke that, before he bowed his head slightly, as a mournful expression crossed his features.

"You're not the only one who thinks that," he stated, before Canus scoffed.

"I seriously doubt that," he said and walked away from the Headmaster, while the students looked on.

"Whoa...," said Yang as she blinked at the major meltdown shown by the adult.

"No kidding," agreed Jaune, before they all turned back to the Green Wizard as he stood up from the ground and grabbed his cane. The expression was replaced with his usual calm one, but Ruby and Pyrrha noted the sadness in his eyes.

It was then the two remembered what Canus said and thus asked him.

"Um Professor..." Asked Ruby, and the man turned to the Red Rose, as she finished her question, "...Why did Canus call you Ozma?"

The professor sighed before he gave her, the vaguest answer he had given to many people who asked him about his past multiple times.

"It's...a long story,"

"Indeed it is," a voice said, getting everyone's attention and making them snap their attention to the source, "But...I'm afraid he won't tell you, cause he's too scared to even talk about it."

Everyone immediately went on guard as they spotted the shadowed figures of two people in the woods, as they walked toward them, unable to make them out due to the darkness.

"Who's there!?" Yang shouted, as she readied Ember Celica.

"All heart and soul...you don't know how much we missed that Yang," said the same voice, a man's about the same age as Ruby and Yang's own father. However it was he said, that caused everyone to blink to confusion.

"Who are you?" Ruby questioned, asking for everyone.

But before the figures could answer.

"You sure took your sweet time," Canus said, making everyone turn to him, "And don't worry, you're not late, in fact, you're a little early,"

"...Early?" Pyrrha asked, as the huntsmen/huntresses-in-training all blinked in confusion. "What do you mean by..."

"You will not be able to stop Dorée...," said the voice of the female figure, which caused Pyrrha to froze in familiarity before she snapped her head toward the pair, just as Remnant's Moon managed to break through the cloud and illuminate the area, and reveal the two new arrivals.

And the reactions were expected.

"...Y...You're...,"

* * *

 _ **Final Chamber of the Vault of Choice**_

* * *

The room she found herself in was definitely the eye catcher. The surrounding area, reminiscent of the Forever Fall Forest she visited many weeks. It beauty was truly the same.

But right now, she couldn't marvel. Right now, her ultimate goal was finally within her sight.

Placed on a stone pillar, and floating just an inch from the stone, was the Relic of Choice...the lost Crown of the Last King of Vale. Unlike other crowns, it wasn't covered in an overabundance of jewelry, and was not incredibly ornate.

But looking at the headdress in front of her, Dorée knew it didn't need those things to show that it was meant for a ruler.

She continued to walk toward the pillar before finally stopping in front of it, and proceeded to look at it more carefully.

After a moment of scrutiny, she slowly reached her hands up and grabbed the sides of the crown, and gently lifted it off it's pedestal. She thought it would be heavy, but surprisingly, it felt incredibly light.

"No doubt an object forged by Gods should be considered as such," she muttered, as she inspected it, "Of course, this crown is meant to be worn by those who endured great burdens as leaders...not for someone like me,"

She shook her head of those somber thoughts, before she reached into a pouch on her belt, and pulled out a white cloth before wrapping it over it the crown.

After that, she used her polarity to safely secure it to her belt, before giving a nod of approval.

"Alright...," she said, "Now, time to get out of here,"

A loud klunk got her attention causing her to look down as she saw the ground in a eight foot diameter around the pedestal, began to rise up with her on it.

"Huh, speak of a way out, and it appears," she mused, and actually chuckled, before she turned her gaze upwards, as the ceiling opened up revealing the night sky.

She then remembered the possibility of Ozpin, her parents, and most definitely Canus waiting for her, and intending to stop from taking the relic. Sighing sadly, she readied her sword and shield, as the hole in the roof came closer and closer.

"I don't want to fight," she said, her voice saddened, but determined, "But, at this point, I have no choice. Afterall, as a Huntress, there really is no choice to make."

That sounded cynical, but unfortunately it's the truth...the cold. Hard. Truth.

Of course, unlike Ozpin who manipulated her mother, she was doing this of her own free will.

She halted her thought process as the circle was just about to pass the rim of the hole, before finally entering into the open air, once again. Dorée then closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and letting it out.

With her eyes still closed, she only listened as a another resounding klunk signaled her arrival back to the surface. She waited for a moment, before finally setting her face into a firm frown, before opening her eyes...only for said eyes to widen in shock, her weapons to fall to the ground, and the crown to quickly follow them, due to her no longer using her semblance, out of shock.

She was now looking in front of her, and spotted not Canus, Ozpin, or the younger versions of her parents, their team, and Team RWBY.

But instead...

"Hello Dorée,"

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112: And scene! Finally got back to this after a long hiatus! Sorry for the wait everyone.**_

 _ **Welp, Dorée has finally passed the three challenges, and has acquired the Relic of Choice. But now, she's facing an opponent that has caused to stop dead in her tracks...you all know who it might probably be, but please, tell me via PM.**_

 _ **Also, Aurea Mors: Alter Drei is up, and ready for reading!**_

 _ **Please leave a review, and until next time folks! Later!**_


End file.
